But I Don't Like Boys?
by Shukumei-of-another-world
Summary: Yuuram. Now that Shin Makoku is safe from evil hands, what is a demon king to do? Get married? But he's going to have to fall in love with his fiancee first, even if he is a boy. Includes lots of firsts, a nervous Yuri, and plotting family members.
1. A Promise He Made

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Author yapping: I was semi-disappointed with the lack of "yaoi" in a supposedly shonen-ai anime. So this fanfic is basically to fill that void. Hopefully, the OVA will have more to it…

Unfortunately, this is not a random fanfic where Yuri and Wolfram are suddenly head-over-heels for each other. I want to make this story a little more "realistic" in the sense that Yuri isn't okay with dating a boy and the idea will have to grow on him with time.

I'm not going to focus too much on the description of characters and setting since we all basically know what things looks like. If I get more into the story, I may delve more into that sort of stuff. For now, I'm just focusing on the plot of Yuri and Wolfram getting together. Therefore, I won't be dealing with the other characters too much unless their appearance is moving the story along somehow.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Japanese: I'm going to pointedly avoid using Japanese words. As much as I keep having to catch myself not using them, I think it's best for all if I just leave it all in English. It also helps me not embarrass myself with misspelled words.

-o-o-

**Chapter 1: A Promise He Made**

"But, Mother!" Yuri clenched his hands into fists in front of his chest, his voice pinched with a girly whine.

"No buts, Yu-chan." Miko Shibuya, or Jennifer as she liked to be so called, took her youngest son's fists into her hands, unfolding them to trace along his fingers. "Do you not like Wol-chan?"

Yuri's face fell in defeat. His mother's fingers felt comforting, and Yuri felt himself giving in, despite his earlier protests. "No, Mother, I don't. It's so stupid." Yuri took his hands back to shove one in his pant's pocket and the other to ruffle through his black hair. "This whole engagement thing is ridiculous. They say it's not uncommon in Shin Makoku, but I have yet to see a gay couple there." Yuri sighed. "Besides, my home is here, and it's not so common on Earth. At least, not in a public sense."

Jennifer smiled. "Was Momma upset when she found out you were engaged to a boy?"

"Ah-" Yuri faltered, and his face fell in defeat a second time. "No, Mother, you weren't. You're excited about some of the strangest things."

"Momma. How many times have I told you, Yu-chan? It's Momma." She waved a finger at him, frowning. "Was Papa upset?"

Yuri screwed his face up in concentration, trying to recall his father's exact reaction. "Hmm…" He put a finger to his temple as if that would help him remember. "I think Father got used to the idea. I noticed how Wolfram seems to have won over the both of you. Shori's probably the only one on my side."

Jennifer placed her hands on her hips. "Now. So the only reason that you've given me for not wanting to date Wol-chan is that he's a boy."

"That should be reason enough!" Yuri exclaimed.

Yuri's older brother, Shori stepped into Yuri's room at that very moment and said, "Sounds more like an excuse to me."

"Sho-chan/Shori!" Both Yuri and his mother cried out at the same time. Yuri's face was wide-eyed and his voice cracked with shock. Jennifer, on the other hand, had a gleam in her eyes and said Shori's name with a smile.

Shori smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

"See? Even Sho-chan agrees, Yu-chan. Would you like Wolfram if he were a girl?" Jennifer winked at Shori and gave him a thumbs up.

"Ah-" Again, Yuri felt defeat. "I don't know. He's so demanding and spoiled. I mean, what kind of person threatens their, uh, significant other if they're too friendly with others?"

"He's just being protective, Yu-chan."

"Well, he needs to stop it. It's not like I have a high enough ego to just go and fawn over all the girls I lay my eyes on." Yuri huffed and quickly turned his head to the side. "And they don't exactly fawn over me."

Shori stepped closer to Yuri and gave him a brotherly slap on the back. "You don't give yourself enough credit, little brother."

"Not only that, Wol-chan said you almost accepted a marriage proposal one time while he was out." Jennifer slapped Yuri on the other side of his back.

Yuri jumped away and waved his arms in front of himself. "No, that was just a misunderstanding! Besides, she was actually _his_ fiancée."

The mother and eldest son exchanged skeptical looks. Jennifer spoke first, "That doesn't explain why you accepted the proposal in the first place."

Shori nodded. "And it's also suspicious that you did this while Wolfram wasn't around."

"Stop ganging up on me! That's not fair," Yuri complained.

Jennifer's eyes softened, and she touched Yuri's shoulder. "Wol-chan was heart-broken when he found out you had agreed to see her. He almost cried when he told me about it."

"Really?" Yuri asked. "I've only seen him cry once. When we," he paused, "when we thought I had to leave Shin Makoku for good."

Shori sat on Yuri's bed. "It seems you've been the cause of a lot of heartache."

"Then is it really worth it?" Yuri sighed, closing his eyes. "If all I do is reject his advances and cause him such pain, then why should he still want to be my fiancé? I can't be worth all that."

Jennifer looked to be contemplating. "It's true that you hurt his feelings, but Wol-chan seems willing to sacrifice for you." She pointed at Yuri across from her and loudly proclaimed, "You will go on a date with him to make up for all the horrible things you've done to him."

"What?!" Yuri sat down hard on his bed in shock. "Wh-"

"Do it, Yu-chan." His mother's face had become cold, her tone hard.

Shori placed a hand on his brother's shoulder next to him. "Yes, little brother, you should do it. Wolfram will be pleased."

"Bu-bu-but, why are you in on this too, Shori?" Yuri pleaded.

Shori's glasses reflected light like an evil gleam. "Your punishment for never calling me Big Brother."

Yuri pouted, "But what if I don't want to?"

Jennifer snapped her fingers sharply, catching Yuri's sudden attention. "You will go on a date with Wol-chan. In fact, bring him here once so he can experience a date on Earth." Her smile seemed eerie. "Shori and I will take care that you two can have a proper Earth date; won't we, Shori?" She was sparkling with giddiness.

Shori's glasses still had that evil gleam. "Yes, we will."

Yuri gulped.

-o-o-

"Remember your promise, Yu-chan!" Jennifer called out to her son, waving.

Yuri sighted. "Yes, Mother, I won't forget." Before he stepped into the little kiddy pool, the most convenient portal to Shin Makoku for its size and location, Yuri caught sight of his mother bending down to whisper something in Murata's ear.

Murata listened intently and smiled. "I think that can be arranged, Momma."

Yuri tensed. Oh, God, there was going to be more. Now even Murata was in on it.

Wolfram appeared at the back door, a bag in his hand. "Thank you for the extra curry," his gaze drifted to Yuri, a look that seemed sad, and then back to Jennifer, "Shibuya-san."

"Oh, Wol-chan." Jennifer grabbed Wolfram in a hug, careful of the curry in his hands. "Please, it's Momma."

Wolfram's sad expression quivered for a moment, as if that statement had caused him greater pain. Yuri wondered what his sudden change in mood was all about.

Murata stepped into the spotted kiddy pool next to Yuri. "Got everything?"

"Yeah." Yuri held up his waterproof bag full of books. "Don't want them to get all wet on the return ride home." He hadn't caught himself in time to correct that Shin Makoku wasn't really his home. Conrad had once said that it was alright if you had the two homes, so Yuri didn't feel the need to change his statement.

Wolfram came to the pool and waved for Conrad to hurry up. Conrad quickly slipped the white robe over his head and ran into the water with the others.

"Don't forgot, Yu-chan!" Jennifer gave a final wave at the back porch.

"I know!" Yuri yelled out before they were pulled through the whirlpool back to Shin Makoku.

-o-o-

End Chapter 1

There'll be more interaction between the two boys, I promise, just by patient.

Read and review, please.


	2. Ignorance Isn't So Blissful

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Author yapping: Same as the first chapter. I am trying to stay in character as much as I can. If anyone sees anything wrong, let me know!

I'm writing this thing in my journal, and will post it as I type it up. I've gotten the next 2 or 3 chapters all written out, and I have a general idea of where this is going.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Japanese: Oh, I did forget to mention that I am using some Japanese in the sense of suffixes. If you don't understand some or any, please just ask, and I'll be sure to let you know.

-o-o-

**Chapter 2: Ignorance Isn't So Blissful**

The few days that had passed after retuning to Shin Makoku seemed like an eternity to Yuri. Most of his time had been spent studying with Gunter, practicing sword techniques with Conrad, dealing with the kingdom's continual problems, or studying for school back on Earth. What little free time he did have, he usually just slept. Now with Soushu out of the way, the Maou couldn't find any excuses to break away and rescue someone in distress or find a mystical item. Shin Makoku had become a rather dull place.

Poor Greta, his young adopted daughter, couldn't give him the energy to play with her, not even for catch. And in all this time, Yuri did take note that Wolfram was only to be seen during meals. The spoiled blonde hadn't complained to Gunter or Conrad about taking all of Yuri's time. Wolfram wasn't even bickering to sleep with him at night.

Sure, Yuri didn't have the time or vigor to deal with Wolfram, but it still made him a little lonely. Perhaps Wolfram was keeping Greta company while Yuri was busy. They certainly seemed to get along well.

Stranger than not seeing Wolfram very much, was the times that he _did_ see him. Wolfram always seemed quick to turn the other way or break eye contact. At meals, Wolfram's greetings were quick and to the point. It somehow unnerved Yuri to see him not trying to catch his fiancée's attention.

-o-o-

"Hey, Gunter." Yuri looked up from the large book on the table in front of him.

Gunter turned at his name, pausing from pulling an even larger book from the shelf. "Yes, Your Majesty?"

Yuri blanched at the thought of having to read something more. "Gunter, can I have the weekend off? I haven't gotten much sleep lately, nor had time to play with Greta."

Gunter nodded. "I'm sorry I have taken all your time, Your Majesty. You have been progressing very well. If you'd like to take a break, I understand." He tucked a strand of long silver hair behind his ear. "Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to talk with your fiancée."

Yuri sighed. "You noticed, too?"

The silver-haired mazoku put the large book back into the bookshelf and sat in the chair next to Yuri. "He seems distant and not just from you, Your Majesty. No one can get anything out of him."

"Really? I thought it was just me he was ignoring." Yuri dropped his head into his hands, his elbows digging into the table. "Why does Wolfram have to be so difficult?"

-o-o-

"No more papers…" Yuri whined into the desk.

Conrad grabbed a paper from the small stack to Yuri's left and looked it over. "You don't have many more to sign, Your Majesty. See? You're almost done."

"No more…" Yuri whined again, his eyelids feeling heavy.

Gwendel took the paper from Conrad. "If His Majesty is tired, he can wait until tomorrow to complete them. But of course, there will just be more for him to sign then."

Conrad gave Yuri a sympathetic look.

Yuri snatched the paper from Gwendel's hands. "Fine." He scribbled his name once in Japanese and again in Shin Makoku's writing. "I'll do half of the rest." He roughly scribbled on the next paper. "But I'm taking the weekend off."

Conrad barely got out, "Seems fair enough," when the door suddenly swung open, and Wolfram stepped into the room.

"Wolfram," Yuri said happily to his surprise, "is there something-"

"I want to renounce our engagement," Wolfram declared, his arms crossed over his chest.

-o-o-

End chapter 2

Wow, this one was really short, but it seemed like a good spot to end a chapter and leave you hanging on the edge for more.

Read and review, please!


	3. Therefore, Punshiment

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Author yapping: I'll have to go write some more before I run out of stuff to submit, and you all have to wait for a really long time for the next chapter…

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

-o-o-

**Chapter 3: Therefore, Punishment**

"Wha-" Yuri stood up from his desk. "What did you say?"

Wolfram took a step forward, his face an unreadable mask. "You heard me. I want you all to take witness," he swept his hand across the room, "that I renounce my engagement to Yuri Shibuya at this time today."

Yuri fell back into his chair with a heavy sigh. "This has got to be some kind of joke."

"Um, Your Majesty." Conrad tapped Yuri on the shoulder. "He left."

"What?!" Yuri quickly looked up, staring at the spot Wolfram had been standing in only moments before. "Ah, geez." He stood up and looked to Gwendel. "Excuse me for a moment."

Gwendel nodded and watched as Yuri ran out of the room.

-o-o-

"Wolfram!"

Wolfram continued to walk down the hall, not heeding Yuri's calls behind him.

"Hey, Wolfram! I said wait up!" Yuri had nearly caught up to him when Wolfram turned the corner. He took a slight increase in his walking speed and nearly collided with the blonde around the corner. Yuri jumped back, aware of their sudden closeness.

"What, Your Majesty?" Wolfram annoyedly put his hands on his hips.

Yuri stuttered for a moment, caught with his defenses down.

Wolfram turned to leave. "God, you're such a wimp. If you can't even speak up-" He stopped short when Yuri roughly grabbed his arm. When he faced Yuri again, he wasn't looking into large and forgiving eyes. These were the hard slits of Yuri in Maou-mode. "Yuri…"

"I will not endure anymore of this sulking from you." Yuri's voice was edge with bitterness. "I do not wish to cause you pain, but I will have no choice if you do not tell me what your reason is for breaking our engagement."

"I-" Wolfram stood frozen in his spot.

"Speak!" Maou-mode Yuri bellowed. His longer black hair began to move upwards by some unfelt wind.

"Ioverheardwhatyousaidtoyourmom!" Wolfram quickly blurted out, his eyes squeezed shut to avoid that angry glare. The hand holding his arm loosened.

"Then you clearly didn't listen long enough to know what was really going on."

Wolfram opened his eyes. "What?"

Yuri's eyebrows took on an angry line. "Therefore, punishment." His hand slapped across Wolfram's face with such force that it left an imprint of the characters for 'justice' on his left cheek, brandished by the stamp in Yuri's palm. "You shall remain as my fiancée. It is intolerable that you are so quick to give up on your love."

Wolfram felt tears welling in his eyes from the sharp pain in his cheek and a little from Yuri's suddenly willingness to stay his fiancée. But why?

"Also, I punish myself," despite Yuri's constantly stiff expression in his Maou-mode, his eyes seemed to soften a little, "for causing you pain, Wolfram. This weekend, you will set up a date proper to this land. If, after that date, I cannot see the good in being with you, I will nullify this second engagement."

Wolfram nodded, although confused at the sudden change of heart.

Maou-mode Yuri closed his eyes and smiled. His hair shortened and his knees buckled slightly. Wolfram stepped forward to keep Yuri from falling as he returned to normal. Yuri blinked and looked up at Wolfram. "Aa!" He stood straight up, gawking at Wolfram's left cheek. "I proposed again?!"

Wolfram threw his arms in the air. "You say it like it's a bad thing!" He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I should have known that this wasn't going to work out. I should just get it over with and renounce this damn thing again."

"Wait." Yuri reached out and touched Wolfram's reddening cheek. "My Maou-mode was right, I think. I made a promise to my mother that I would try to, uh, give you a chance."

Wolfram let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Is that what the rest of the conversation was about? After you said that you didn't like me, that it was stupid… I left. I couldn't bear to hear what else you had to say."

"That's what you get for not ease-dropping longer?" Yuri shrugged.

"I thought giving you space would be for the best, but you never came to me-"

"I didn't have the time!" Yuri interrupted.

"You didn't even try." Wolfram lowered his eyes.

Yuri nervously ruffled through his black hair. "I'm trying now, aren't I?" He smiled. "Besides, I told everyone that I was going to take the weekend off. I had hoped to talk with you then."

"Oh, that's why…"

"That's why, what?" Yuri dropped his hand.

Wolfram grinned. "You'll see." And he ran off down the corridor.

"I'll see, what?" Yuri yelled after him.

-o-o-

End Chapter 3

Just remember that Yuri can't ever recall what happens while he's in Maou-mode, and that last bit might make a little more sense as to why Yuri's confused. Oh, and I tried so desperately to squeeze in the 'justice' thing because the Maou-mode Yuri amuses me to no end.

Next chapter gives us some father-daughter time as Yuri has to wait out Friday to get to the weekend. Don't worry, we'll get to the date in the fifth chapter. I hope you guys are patient enough to wait 'till then.

Read and review, please!


	4. A Daughter's Word

**But I Don't Like Boys?**by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Author yapping: I'm glad all of you like the story so far. I suppose I'm trying to go for the humor like the series does, but also add the romance. It's been fun! And I'm so horrible at saving this stuff to update it later. I guess you guys will just have deal with getting to read another chapter today...

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

-o-o-

**Chapter 4: A Daughter's Word**

Yuri stretched out his writing-abused arm, flexing his fingers. He bent down and touched his toes, feeling relieved as his cramping muscles moved with his little exercises. "All right, papers are done. Just a bit more studying with Gunter, and I have the weekend to myself!" Yuri tightened his hand into a victorious fist. "First, I'll get some long-needed sleep, and then play some catch with Greta." He paused, looking up at Conrad. "Want to join us?"

Conrad smiled. "If Greta wants to share, I'll join, Your Majesty."

Yuri sighed. "Conrad, it's Yuri. You named me after all."

Gunter entered through the large double doors and nodded when Yuri glanced his way. "Ah, Your Majesty. Gwendel said I could find you in here." He walked towards Yuri and clapped his hands together. "I had hoped to give you and Greta a joint lesson in advance writing today."

"Sounds good, Gunter. If you can make today's work a little shorter, that'd be even better." Yuri waved as he excused himself to leave. "I'll go find Greta and meet you in the library."

"Oh, and Your Majesty."

Yuri turned back to look at Gunter.

Gunter smiled. "Congratulations on your re-engagement to Wolfram yesterday evening."

-o-o-

Unfortunately, Greta was not to be found in her room, Yuri's room, or out in the gardens. "Ah!" Yuri snapped his fingers. "She must be with Wolfram." He wasn't too far from Wolfram's room, so he figured to check there first. Yuri knocked on the door. "Wolfram, if you're there – is Greta with you?" From behind the door, Yuri could hear a sudden shuffling of sheets and shushed words. "Wolfram?" Yuri reached for the doorknob. "Is Greta in-" He looked down.

The door swung open, and Yuri's red-headed daughter quickly shut it behind her. "What is it, Yuri?"

"What were you two doing in there?" Yuri inquired.

Greta stood in front of the door, as if she alone could block Yuri's entrance. "Wolfram says you can't see until tomorrow."

Yuri chuckled and patted her full head of hair. "He's got you in on it, too? Everyone seems to be plotting against me." He took Greta's hand, and they started to walk down the nearly empty hallway. "Gunter wants to teach us some advanced writing. Sound okay?"

Greta nodded. "I'll do anything if it means getting to spend time with you."

"Well, since I don't have to practice or study for the next two days, I figured we could play all day tomorrow."

"But tomorrow is Wolfram's day to be with you." Greta frowned. "I promised him that I wouldn't bother you two."

Yuri stopped and knelt down beside her. "Did Wolfram say you'd be a bother? 'Cause if he did, I don't think you're a bother."

Greta vigorously shook her head. "Oh, no, Wolfram didn't say that. He just doesn't want anyone to interrupt your da-" She clapped her hands over her mouth, nearly caught spilling the beans.

"My what?" Yuri titled his head.

"Oh, Wolfram told me not to tell, and I'm not going to."

Yuri grinned. "Did he bribe you?"

Greta shook her head. "No. I want to prove that I can keep a promise."

"So I won't be able to bribe you?"

"Nope!" Greta smiled.

-o-o-

Advance writing with Gunter went by much quicker since Greta was there, too. Yuri was amazed at how well she caught on and felt bad for himself for having to learn at a 10-year-old's level. She seemed to be doing better than he was. What kind of king did that make him? He brushed it off as she was born here, and he wasn't. It was a perfectly liable excuse.

When their study was over, Yuri stealthily followed Greta back to Wolfram's room. To his disappointment, Wolfram just told her to meet him in the kitchen after dinner. But it did give him something to look forward to later tonight.

But alas, the three head maids, Doria, Lasagna, and Sangria, were under strict orders to not let Yuri into the kitchen. So Yuri only had one thing left to do. He sulked back to his room and fell asleep.

-o-o-

End Chapter 4

Greta's such a cute little girl.

Read and review, please!


	5. Blind Trust

**But I Don't Like Boys?**

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Author yapping: Yeah, I rushed to put those last four chapters since people were reading and commenting. I had most of it already written and the only thing holding me was having to type them. Well, now my typing has caught up with my writing and the updates aren't going to happen multiple times in a day.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

-o-o-

**Chapter 5: Blind Trust**

"What a crazy dream." Yuri yawned and rubbed his sleep-crusted eyes.

"What was it about?"

Yuri flung himself off the bed, falling to the floor in a mass of blue sheets. "Wolfram!" He saw the blonde look down at him, sitting on his knees at the edge of the bed. "Warn me next time!"

"Oh, sorry, Yuri." Wolfram jumped off the bed and sat down next to his fiancée. "I just wanted to watch you sleep for a bit."

Yuri blanched. "You were watching me sleep?"

"Yes, I was. Do you have a problem with me wanting to watch my cute fiancée as he sleeps?" Wolfram leaned forward, too close to Yuri for comfort.

Yuri leaned back and protectively covered himself with the blanket twisted around his body. "Yes, I find it disturbing, especially since you think I'm cute when I sleep." Yuri paused. "How long have you been here?" Clearly, with Wolfram wearing a full set of his blue soldier uniform, he hadn't slept with him last night.

"Just an hour or so. If you didn't get up soon though I was going to have to wake you up somehow." Wolfram stood up to sit back on Yuri's bed.

"And just how did you plan on waking me up?" Yuri eyed him suspiciously.

Wolfram flashed him a smile. "A good-morning-kiss would have been nice," he paused for effect, "but a bucket-of-water-to-the-face would have been much more successful."

Yuri gathered the sheet into a large ball and tossed it at the blonde. "Ha, ha, very funny."

"I think both would have been amusing for me either way."

They sat in awkward silence for a few long moments. In that time period, Yuri had moved to sit next to Wolfram on the bed and stared across the room at the empty wall.

"Well?" Wolfram said. "Are you going to get dressed or not?"

"Oh!" Yuri blinked. "Are you going to leave so I _can_ change?"

Wolfram raised an eyebrow at him. "As if I haven't seen you naked before."

Yuri's face flushed with heat. "That's different. It's easier to travel back and forth between the two worlds without… clothes."

"Don't forget all those baths."

Yuri blushed harder. "I-I wasn't looking!"

"I'm just teasing you, Yuri, geez." Wolfram pushed himself off the bed and faced his fiancée. "Can I just not watch you change? Or do you want me to leave the room?"

Yuri got up and started to urge Wolfram towards the door. "You're going to wait outside."

-o-o-

"Here." Wolfram handed Yuri a white piece of cloth when the black-haired king finished dressing in his matching black school uniform.

Yuri took the cloth and held it in his hands, noticing its rather long rectangular size. "What's this?"

"It's a blindfold."

"What?!" Yuri nearly dropped it as if it were diseased. "I am _not_ putting this on."

Wolfram sighed. "Relax, Yuri. You said you wanted a date proper to this land."

"That's what I said in Maou-mode?" Yuri slapped his head. "But I'm supposed to-" He stopped short, not wanting to admit that he had promised to take Wolfram on a date on Earth. "So," he cleared his throat, "What's with the blindfold?"

"Since I set the date up, I have to lead you to where we're going while you're blindfolded." Wolfram smiled. "It's a trust thing. You have to trust that I will bring you safely to our destination."

"And whatever gave you the impression that I trusted you?"

Wolfram's eyes widened, and he gave a small gasp.

"Relax, I'm just joking," Yuri mocked. "Okay, so I just put the blindfold on, and we're walking somewhere?" He lifted the blindfold to his eyes and tied it in a knot at the back of his head.

"Can you see anything?" Wolfram asked.

Yuri squinted his eyes even though his vision was just a field of gray. "Unfortunately, no."

"Good." Wolfram stood beside him and put his arm into the crook of Yuri's elbow. Yuri turned his head in the direction he knew Wolfram to be, but it was still a gray view. "It's easier to guide you this way. Now let's go."

They walked side-by-side, Wolfram telling Yuri when to turn and when to stop. He could feel Wolfram tighten his grip before he told Yuri to do something, so Yuri knew to listen when the blonde anticipated a move. Yuri was surprised to find that he hadn't tripped over anything on the way there.

The walk wasn't very long, and with the random bustles of people that Yuri could hear, he doubted that they had even left the castle. He distinctly remembered a female tittering about a date. Of course they knew what this blindfold was all about. This was so obvious, and Yuri hadn't thought it would be quite so public. Was Wolfram just parading him around the castle like a trophy?

"Here." Wolfram stopped and let go of Yuri's arm.

-o-o-

End chapter 5

Oh, and I promised the first date in chapter 5/evil reflection of light in glasses/ It's at least the first little bit of the date. But we're getting into all the fun stuff. In fact, I added a little spice to the next chapter that I hadn't originally planned on, but I thought it'd be even more fun.

So where did Wolfram lead Yuri to, and what does he have planned for this first date?

Read and review, please!


	6. I Didn't Know We Couldn't Talk About

**But I Don't Like Boys?**

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Fun stuff. Oh, and yay! This chapter is only shorter than the first one, so it's longer than all the others. Hopefully, by the next chapter, I'll be getting enough regular reviews to respond to some of them in this part.

-o-o-

**Chapter 6: Oops, I Didn't Know We Couldn't Talk About  
**

"Here." Wolfram stopped and let go of Yuri's arm. "There's a blanket in front of you. If you bend down, you can feel it on the ground. Sit on it."

Yuri did as he was told, feeling the blanket shift a little as he tried to avoid putting his shoes on it. It would do no good to get it dirty, even if they were sitting outside. "Is it a picnic?" Yuri reached behind his head to untie the blindfold.

"Not yet," Wolfram said from somewhere in front of him.

"Why not?" Yuri could hear Wolfram messing with something, but he was unsure of what it was.

"What's a picnic?" Wolfram asked as the noise continued. "Try this."

"Am I supposed to be eating something?" Yuri raised an eyebrow that was barely visible above the blindfold.

"Yes, you are. So open up."

Yuri shrugged. "You don't have picnics here?" He opened his mouth, hoping it was open wide enough for whatever was about to be put in it. To Yuri's relief it was a small bite of a sponge-like food. It was soft and sweet. "This is good. More please." Yuri opened his mouth again to eat another bite of what he good only assume was some sort of cake.

"If you tell me what a picnic is, Yuri, I could tell you if we have them here or not," Wolfram said. The sound metal clanked on glass, and Yuri anticipated another bite of the cake.

He didn't get one. "Picnic. Well, they're usually a meal put in a basket to be eaten outside is the general idea of it. They tend to be sandwiches and the like in a wood or wicker basket. Outside… and on a blanket is common. Is there a basket, Wolfram?"

"I guess this is a picnic. We call these garden lunches, whether you're in a garden or not really isn't the case."

Yuri felt something brush his ear, and he jerked his head in surprise. His nose hit something soft, and he frowned.

"Hold still, Yuri." Wolfram's fingers worked out the knot of the blindfold, and Yuri realized that his nose had hit Wolfram's arm. That meant that Wolfram had to be sitting close to him. Yuri nearly jumped when he felt Wolfram's breath on his forehead. "There." The blindfold fell away, and Yuri was greeted with Wolfram's smiling face. Yuri still couldn't get over how strikingly green his eyes were. He felt himself blush under Wolfram's gaze and mentally berated himself for getting all worked up.

Yuri quickly brushed away his racing thoughts and looked around him. Wolfram had taken him to a spot in the castle's garden that was completely covered in some form of rose. Roses grew on vines running up white lattice fences. They grew white, red, and yellow in large bushes. It was like a room barricaded by these walls of roses, the ceiling open to reveal the bright blue sky. Yuri and Wolfram sat under a tree that blossomed with green roses. "Wow, Wolfram. I never knew there was a place like this in the garden. Not only that," he studied a purple rose at the base of the tree, "roses on Earth only come like the ones on the bushes."

Wolfram stretched out on the brown blanket. "It's the romantic hideaway that nearly everyone knows about but is too afraid to come to. Most people don't want to interrupt a couple while they're back here, so we had to come up with some sort of schedule to use it."

Yuri looked down at Wolfram. "_We_ implies that you've had use for it as a romantic getaway before."

Wolfram closed his eyes. "Only once."

Yuri shoveled some of the unfrosted, but still delicious cake into his mouth. "Only once? With your looks, I'm surprised-" Yuri paused. "Oh, you still could have had multiple girl-er-boyfriends? And only brought one of them here."

Wolfram opened one eye and regarded Yuri. "I dated a little bit, but with Mom as the Maou, it was a bit difficult to keep partners once they realized I was so close to her."

"You two don't seem that close as to drive dates away." Yuri laid on his side next to Wolfram and propped himself up with his elbow.

Wolfram turned on his side to face Yuri. He pillowed his head with his right arm. "Ah, thanks to not being able to keep lovers, I drew away from Mom. She still likes to baby me, so I think she understood."

"Wait, you say 'lovers'." Yuri blushed a little. "Does that mean you had sex with some of them?"

Wolfram smiled. "I'll keep no secrets from you, Yuri," he took a bite of the cake between them, "in return, I expect honest answers from you."

Yuri grabbed the fork from Wolfram and ate some of the cake they had silently decided to share. "Sure, I guess that's fair."

"Yes, I have."

Yuri immediately choked on the cake, caught with surprise. His eyes watered as he coughed. Wolfram worriedly patted his back, asking if he was all right. "Why am I surprised that you've had sex?" Yuri coughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolfram sat up, and he glared down at Yuri.

Yuri sighed and flopped onto his back. "I mean, you are older than me, and if you've had the opportunity… I don't see why you haven't done that."

"Because I _haven't_ done that." Wolfram huffed. "At least, not in the technical term of 'intercourse'."

"Then why did you say you've had sex?" Yuri turned to watch Wolfram bite into an apple he had taken out of the basket behind them.

Wolfram took a second bite before speaking. "I wanted to see how you would react. I'm glad at least you don't think I'm easy," he gave Yuri a suggestive grin, "at least not for anyone but you."

Yuri blinked. "Wha-" He didn't get a chance to complete his thought before Wolfram had moved to crawl on top of him. The blonde's legs were on opposite sides of his thighs, Wolfram's hands supporting him by his head. Yuri gulped. Wolfram wasn't touching Yuri in any way, but the black-haired teenager felt his body responding to the close proximity. "Wolfram…"

The older boy pushed a hand through Yuri's short hair and sighed, "I could easily take you right now."

Yuri was still shocked into near paralysis, but that bold statement jump-started him into a semi-panic. His mind raced for a way out without insulting Wolfram's feelings. "Y-you _want_ to have sex with me?"

Wolfram put a hand on Yuri's chest, feeling his heartbeat pulsing erratically. "But from your reaction, one – I know you have not yet experienced any form of sexual contact, and two – even if you had, you certainly don't feel comfortable doing it with a guy. Not only that," Wolfram leaned down towards Yuri, who tensed, and whispered in his ear, "Our daughter is watching us."

-o-o-

End chapter 6.

Gah! I'm so evil! Oh, and in response to your statement, phantome101, that you don't understand why some people hate Greta… /points at the last line/ That's probably why. /makes squinty face/ Not really. Perhaps her tying to kill Yuri when she first shows up doesn't help her case, but Huber did the same thing!

I had to reword some stuff when Wolfram is feeding the blindfolded Yuri. As I was typing that scene up, I realized that Wolfram could have been putting something entirely different into Yuri's mouth… and it's just too soon for stuff like that. /sweatdrop/

Read and review, please!


	7. Family Gathering

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Yep, all this crazy updating is thanks to my readers. I keep coming on to to look at my stats, and behold, another review! I get so excited. So this is how it's going to work: I'll probably update a chapter when I have the next two already fully typed out. This way, I have something to post later if I happen to run across some major writer's block.

This chapter is the first one that I just continued to type up rather than writing it out on paper. So, it might have a mistake or two more than the others since it didn't get the extra proof-read.

/gasp!/ This chapter is over 2,000 words! Long chapter for all my patient readers. Oh, and I have over 2,000 hits. /is excited/

-o-o-

**Chapter 7: Family Gathering **

"Not only that," Wolfram leaned towards Yuri, who tensed, and whispered in his ear, "Our daughter's watching us." Wolfram crawled off of Yuri and pulled a plate of cookies out of the basket. "Want some, Greta?" He called out to the bushes.

Yuri slowly sat up, feeling hot and flustered. No one had ever admitted to wanting him like that; hell, he'd never even had a girlfriend to say that she liked him or wanted to hold hands. Wolfram was so much more bold and experienced in these sorts of things…

Greta appeared from behind a rose bush in a green dress, her head hanging in shame.

Wolfram held out the plate of cookies. "This is what you wanted, right?"

"Greta." Yuri was surprised to hear a crack in his voice. He quickly cleared his throat. "You want to share the cookies with us?"

Greta met Yuri's eyes. "You're not mad at me?"

Yuri looked at Wolfram. "I'm not mad, Greta."

Wolfram took a bite of the apple he had abandoned earlier. "I'm not mad either. You probably came at just the right moment, Princess."

Yuri blushed. "Did you hear anything that was going on, Greta?" He asked.

Greta shrugged as she walked over and sat in front of the cookies. "Not really." She nibbled sheepishly on the small cookie she grabbed. "But I know it was an adult talk."

"Really…?" Wolfram raised a quizzical eyebrow at the perceptive girl.

Greta finished off the cookie and grabbed another. "I heard 'sex' but not much else."

And Yuri had decided to bite into his cookie at that moment and promptly choked on it.

"Geez, Yuri, take it easy with the eating." Wolfram patted his back again while Greta fretted over him. "You're going to kill yourself one day."

"Why does Greta know what sex is?" Yuri cleared his throat and looked at Wolfram.

Wolfram shrugged.

"My cousin told me. It's where babies come from." She smiled. "But she said that only adults can do it, so not to worry about it until I was older."

Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, you are too young to be worrying about that sort of stuff."

"So I can do it when I'm your age, Yuri? I can have a baby then?" Greta clapped her hands.

"Uh…" Yuri wasn't sure what to say. "Oh! Even I'm too young to have kids right now. But, you, Greta, are older, so it's okay that I've adopted you. At my age, it's a little too early to have the responsibility of a baby, let alone a whole kingdom."

Wolfram pulled Greta into his lap and played with her hair. "Yuri's right. I think you're too young right now to be worrying about having babies. Besides, you have to have a boyfriend, or husband, to have one." Wolfram held up a hand before Yuri could say something. "Don't you be worrying about boys right now, either. Yuri and I will just chase them off, especially if they aren't any good to you."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, you have us to play with… when we're not busy."

Greta nibbled on her cookie while Wolfram continued to braid bits of her fluffy hair. "Dates don't look very fun, anyway. You two haven't played at all. Wolfram found out I was there just as you were about to play though."

Yuri blushed a bright red. "Uh, yeah. Is that why you were hiding in the bushes?"

Greta nodded. "Wolfram told me that he had a date with you today, and I wanted to see what it was like."

Wolfram reached for a small rose growing under the tree. "But didn't I tell you not to come over here?" He put the yellow flower into her hair and connected the few braids he had made to it.

Greta frowned. "You said you didn't want me to interrupt. So I thought if I was really quiet… Plus you didn't leave any of the cookies in the kitchen like you promised."

"I'm sorry. I figured that's why you had come out here. We made all sorts of stuff for this date, yesterday, didn't we?" Wolfram reached into the basket next to him and pulled out three sandwiches. "And of course, we've been eating the desserts first."

Yuri snaked his arm out and snatched one of the sandwiches. "What kind did you make?"

"It's ham and cheese," Greta replied and took the sandwich that Wolfram handed to her. She leaned back against Wolfram's chest and took a big bite of it.

"Sounds good." Yuri munched on the sandwich. "So, you guys were setting up the date yesterday?"

"Yeah, we had to be really sneaky about it." Greta covered her face with one of her hands and spread out her fingers so that she could see past them. "You were getting really suspicious." She left her mouth uncovered to take another bite of the sandwich.

Wolfram tried to avoid getting crumbs in Greta's hair and had to eat a little to the side. "After you eat this, you have to promise to let us finish this date by ourselves, okay?"

Greta took a bigger bite and nodded. "Only if you keep your promise that we'll make flower necklaces tomorrow since I helped you and if I get to take some of the cookies with me."

Wolfram held up a hand in a scout's honor. "I promise."

So they finished their meal together as an odd little semi-family under the rose tree, alternating between the sandwiches, apples, and soup. Greta took her time eating, taking small bites here or there, while she asked Yuri and Wolfram about dating and boys. Most of the information, they had to tell her that they'd let her know when she was a little older. When she took her final bite, she hugged Wolfram and then Yuri, grabbed a few cookies, and waved as she ran out of the door-like opening in the lattice fences.

Yuri waved back and turned to Wolfram when she was out of site. "It was good to finally get to spend time with Greta."

"Yeah." Wolfram smiled. "It's been awhile since the three of us got a chance to hang out."

Yuri shifted through the basket to see if there was anything he hadn't yet discovered inside. "So you're really not mad at her for, uh, interrupting?" He found some grapes in a bowl and brought it with him as tried to get into a comfortable position on the blanket.

Wolfram shook his head. "Nothing would have happened anyway, and you know it." He reached over and took the green grapes from Yuri. "Come, lay over here."

Yuri frowned over the stolen grapes and crawled over to Wolfram. He flopped onto his back next to the blonde and motioned for him to give him back the grapes.

"No… over here." Wolfram pointed at his lap.

Yuri sat up. "No. I'm not going to lay-"

"I'm not going to do anything, Yuri." Wolfram curled his legs under him and to one side. "Just lay the back of your head here, and I'll feed you the grapes. That isn't so bad, is it?"

Yuri huffed, but gave in. He moved so he was next to Wolfram and lowered his body back into a laying position. He was more than nerve-racked when the back of his head touched Wolfram's thighs, but he tried to relax into it. Wolfram smiled down at him, the angle a little awkward since Yuri had to tilt his head back to fully look up at him.

"You going to survive down there?"

"I'll manage," Yuri snorted.

Wolfram pulled a grape off of the cluster on vines and put it to Yuri's lips. He gave Yuri a look that clearly said 'you're supposed to open your mouth and eat it.'

Yuri furrowed his eyebrows a bit, conflicting thoughts telling him whether to take the offered grape or not.

Since Yuri seemed too lost in thought, Wolfram instead ate the grape. "At this rate, you'll never get to eat one." But Wolfram tried again.

Yuri accepted one this time, taking the grape with his lips and teeth, careful not to touch Wolfram's fingers in fear of what that might entice. "Now all I need are a few people with big fans."

"What?" Wolfram titled his head.

"Cultural reference, never mind." Yuri said.

This exchange went on for a few minutes, Wolfram feeding Yuri grapes and then Wolfram taking a few for himself. Yuri looked up at Wolfram as he ate. The blonde brought the grape to his lips, and he used his tongue to roll it into his mouth as if trying to be purposely seductive. Yuri shivered and looked away.

"Hey, Yuri," Wolfram said, giving his fiancée another green grape. "What are dates like on Earth?"

Luckily for Yuri, he had avoided shocking himself and choking on the little round fruit. "I bet they're no different from dates here. Well, except that we don't use blindfolds to gain someone's trust." He wondered what his mother had in store for their date. Hopefully, it was a picnic like this. "Some dates are like this, sitting outside and eating at a park. There's movie dates, clubs, school dances, um, oh, festivals. Whatever is going on at the time or whatever someone can afford usually defines what the date is. Oh, there's amusement parks too, like the fair and going out to dinner."

"That's a lot of stuff to do," Wolfram pointed out. "We don't have a lot of those things on Shin Makoku, so you'll just have to show me one day."

Yuri yawned. "Yeah."

"You getting tired?"

Yuri moved a little, but his head remained in Wolfram's lap. "Maybe I got too much sleep last night."

Wolfram ran a hand lightly through Yuri's hair. "I should have woken you up earlier then."

Yuri felt his eyes growing heavy and his body weakening under Wolfram's gentle touches. Wolfram's lap was achingly comfortable, and Yuri had to fight himself not to fall asleep there. Who knows what Wolfram would do if Yuri napped on his lap.

"Wolfram?" Yuri's eyes were closed, his hand curled next to Wolfram's knee.

"Yes, Yuri?"

"I think that even though you're not good with babies, you're good with kids," Yuri said before he yawned again.

Wolfram continued his soft touches in Yuri's hair and daringly across his cheek. "The same could be said about you."

Yuri weakly nodded.

"Yuri?" Wolfram put his hand on Yuri's shoulder and shook him just a tiny bit. "Are you going to sleep?"

Yuri shrugged his shoulder to remove the offending hand. "Mm," was the only response he gave.

Wolfram smiled to himself, stroking back Yuri's hair as the black-haired king fell asleep in his lap.

-o-o-

End chapter 7

Ah, Greta spoiled it… but she's so important to Yuri (and to Wolfram) that I can't just _not_ have her in the story. Besides, she's the reason Yuri gets to see a good side of Wolfram.

And Yuri fell asleep! What is Wolfram to do?! And creepy part is, I kept yawning as I wrote that part.

Read and review, please!


	8. Stealthy

**But I Don't Like Boys?** By Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: The whole having two chapters typed out before I posted isn't going to work out… I got all caught up in my college classes and stuff. I've got all of what I generally want to happen worked out, so I just have to write it out now. Thanks for being patient!

Okay, so I decided to wander around some of my reviewers/alert people's profiles to see what else they were reading and/or writing. Well, I found a great Yuuram story in phantome101's favorites that I highly suggest. It's called "Love and War" by Mikage-chan. I really like it a lot, and I think you should all read it and enjoy. If you run off to read her stuff instead, I understand; it's a lot better than mine.

-o-o-

**Chapter 8: Stealthy**

"Oof!" Yuri found himself on the floor as he was woken up from the hard fall. Some of the blanket was wrapped around him as he hung off the bed upside down. It took a moment for Yuri to gather his thoughts as they came to him in a flurry. What was he doing in his room? What had caused him to fall? Why did his ribs hurt? What had become of Wolfram and their… date? That's right! Yuri quickly rolled off the bed the rest of the way onto the floor and sat up. He had fallen asleep in Wolfram's lap…

He cautiously peeked over the edge of the bed and found that Wolfram, clad in his pink sleeping gown, had to decided to join him this night. Yuri sighed. Wolfram was sprawled out on the bed as he tended to do, one leg kicked out on Yuri's side of the bed. Yuri lifted his blue pajama shirt and rubbed his aching ribs. "God, Wolfram. You need to learn how to sleep more regally since you keep kicking me off the bed," the black-haired king said, even though he knew Wolfram wasn't to be easily awakened.

The moon shone brightly through the window, and Yuri couldn't help but to step outside on his balcony to admire the night. The view wasn't any different than any other time he had come out here, but the cool night air felt good on his skin, and he enjoyed the quiet moment. Yuri watched a few of the armored guards in their nightly posts. He looked around at a trio conversing, two changing shifts, some standing rigid with their weapons, and others leaning against a wall or pillar. One guard, Dacacos, a bald and rather unattractive man, was walking just below Yuri's balcony.

"Hey, Dacacos," Yuri called out to him. "What time is it?" Despite having been in Shin Makoku for nearly a year, Yuri had yet to fully understand their time system. The Sun and Moon seemed to set at different places than on Earth, and there were no clocks to keep the time.

Dacacos looked up at the moon, which hung low in the sky. "It's about four in the morning, Your Majesty."

Yuri waved. "Thanks!" The bald guard waved back and continued on his way, back and forth under Yuri's bedroom.

So it was early morning. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and Yuri jumped onto the bed, causing the blonde currently sleeping to be jerked by the sudden movement. "Hey, Wolfram!" Yuri shook Wolfram's arm, bouncing on the bed in an effort to rouse him.

Wolfram moaned and complained for Yuri to stop. But Yuri continued his assault on his fiancée, poking at his ribs and face. Wolfram slowly sat up, turning to glare at Yuri, and then promptly shoved him off of the bed. "What?!" He shouted at the boy lying on the ground a second time that night.

Yuri rubbed his head and glowered at Wolfram. "That wasn't very nice!"

"Well, that wake-up wasn't very nice either." Wolfram pulled the blanket back over him and laid back down, turning away from Yuri.

Yuri crawled onto the bed and looked down at the blonde for a moment. He put his hands on Wolfram's back and pushed him off the edge of the bed.

Wolfram fell to the floor with a thud. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He stood up, fully awake and ready to pummel the black-haired boy.

"Now you know how it feels!" Yuri rubbed his ribs. "You knocked me out of bed twice tonight. I think it's fair that I returned the favor."

Wolfram crossed his arms over his chest. "You woke me up to push me off the bed?"

Yuri threw his arms up defensively. "No, I just wanted to apologize."

"For pushing me off the bed?"

"No, no. For falling asleep during our… date." Yuri moved so he was sitting at the edge of the bed. "I want to make it up to you, so go change."

Wolfram hesitated a moment, but left the room when Yuri gave him a 'go, go' motion with his hands and eyes.

-o-o-

Yuri found himself having to sneak to Wolfram's room after he himself had changed. Guards kept stopping him to ask what he was doing up so early and where he was going. It was easiest to stick to the shadows and duck around corners when someone walked by; therefore, it took him a little longer to reach Wolfram's room than anticipated.

Yuri didn't want to draw attention to himself by standing outside of Wolfram's room, so he eased the door open and slipped inside. Wolfram was sitting on his bed, fully dressed, and seemingly waiting for Yuri.

"What took you so long?" Wolfram stood up and walked towards Yuri.

"Shh," Yuri put a finger to his mouth. "We're going to have to sneak out of here just like I had to sneak over here."

"Sneak? Why? Are we leaving the castle?" Wolfram asked.

"Yes." Yuri peeked out of the door. "What's the best way out of here?"

Wolfram walked to the other side of the room and opened his window. "My room is close to the front gate. We can get out this way without having to go through too many of the hallways."

Yuri looked out the window at the ground. "Do you have a way for us to get down?"

Wolfram pointed to the side wall next to the window. "Some moron decided to set up a lattice with vines here. I've used it a lot to sneak out, so I know it'll support our weight."

Yuri looked out at the lattice work and made a worried face. "No one's tried to climb up this and sneak into the castle?"

"It's happened quite a bit, actually. Luckily though, I didn't always have this room." Wolfram climbed over the window sill that came up just above his waist. He grabbed ahold of the vines and lattice fencing to his right, smiling at Yuri in reassurance. Wolfram had climbed down in no time at all, making it seem overly easy. Yuri was about to find out it was the exact opposite.

Before Yuri could correctly grasp onto the make-shift ladder, he was already falling. Wolfram gasped and called out his name, running to catch his fiancée. To Wolfram's relief (and slightly to his disappointment he found), Yuri had quickly taken to his Maou form with long hair and hard eyes. Yuri floated down to Wolfram in a sort of bubble and held out his arms to the blonde. Wolfram raised his arms in return and found himself guiding Yuri slowly to the ground with his hands under the Maou's elbows. The black-haired king put his hands on Wolfram's shoulders until his feet touched the ground in a very graceful motion.

As soon as his weight was on the ground, Yuri changed back to normal, slumping onto Wolfram for support. "Oops," he said, his cheeks with a hint of pink.

"You wimp." Wolfram held Yuri up, wrapping an arm around Yuri's back. The two heard running feet coming their way. "Guards. They must have heard me call out your name. Quick, let's get you around the corner."

Yuri put some of his weight on Wolfram's shoulder as they hurried around the building and found a storage closest to hide in. "Wolfram, I-" He stopped when Wolfram put his hand over his mouth. It wasn't too dark in the closet for Yuri to see Wolfram place a finger to his own lips, telling Yuri to keep quiet.

Wolfram shifted his hands so that they were resting on Yuri's hips. Yuri dared not move for the closet was full of cleaning supplies that he could run into and cause a racket. He swallowed hard, nervous that he found himself alone with his fiancée, unsure of what Wolfram's intentions might be in this little space. Then again, he was the one that had gotten them in this situation. Was sneaking around really all that necessary?

He heard the guards outside, asking each other what they thought had happened, pointing out that Wolfram's room was just above them. Their footsteps became louder. "There's a closet here," one said. "Perhaps the one that made the noise is hiding in there."

Yuri and Wolfram tensed, their hands tightening around whatever they were holding onto (Wolfram's on Yuri's hips and Yuri's on Wolfram's upper arms). How were they supposed to explain this?! Yuri's breath hitched in his throat as he felt Wolfram's palm gliding up his chest and his fingers gently brushed his lower jaw. What was Wolfram doing? The guard were about to come in. "Wolfram…" Yuri said quietly, almost sounding like a plea.

"There _is_ someone in the closest!" A guard said outside. "On the count of three, we'll open the door." His voice became louder. "You hear that? We're opening the door. You have 'till the count of three to come out!"

Wolfram's other hand was running up his chest.

"One."

Both of his hands were moving to the back of his neck, tangling in his black hair.

"Two."

Wolfram was leaning forward, closing the space between them.

"Three!"

Yuri squeezed his eyes shut.

-o-o-

End Chapter 8

/maniacal laughter/ I totally didn't have the storage closet planned, but you know what, I thought the fangirls would like it (I know I would). XD! I just kept going and it got to be a little longer than I originally anticipated.

The next chapter gets into a semi-second date where they get to talk a little more, you know, reveal some feelings and stuff like that. And no Greta to interrupt this time:)

Read and review, please!


	9. Get Out of the Closet Already!

**But I Don't Like Boys?** By Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Sorry, if this chapter seems a little rushed. Remember, I didn't originally have the closet planned, so I had to throw some stuff in there.

But what's really cool is that I keep developing this story way farther than it needs to go. I have something in mind for a third story to do with, uh, a "new" character that is just so awesome! Except that it deters away from the Yuuram... hmm, I'll have to see what I can do with this "new" guy.

Sheinah – I _am_ a sadist, aren't I? XD

-o-o-

**Chapter 9: Get Out of the Closet Already!!**

"Three!"

Yuri squeezed his eyes shut, his mind racing in all different directions. This was going to look so worse than it really was…

His eyes suddenly flew open, not from the noise of the jar swinging inward and slamming against the wall, not from the guards barging in and gasping, but from the feel of Wolfram's lips against his own, stealing a gentle and chaste kiss. It was over in that very instant, but Yuri was still shocked into stupidity.

Wolfram leaned against Yuri and put a hand on his chest. He turned to look at the guards annoyedly. "A little privacy?"

Both guards quickly stood up and straight from their similar shock of stupidity. They saluted and swallowed nervously. "Y-Yes, Your Excellency!" They shut the door in a hurry.

Wolfram returned his hands to the back of Yuri's neck. "Now where were we?"

Yuri gawked at Wolfram and vigorously shook his head. "I-" He hastily broke their contact and stumbled backwards.

"Watch out!" Wolfram yelled before Yuri tripped over a bucket and landed awkwardly in the mess of brooms and mops. Wolfram cringed. "You okay, Yuri?"

Yuri felt dizzy, light-headed. He was tangled up in the cleaning supplies and tried desperately to get himself out of the embarrassing position.

Wolfram stepped forward and grabbed one of the mops to set it aside. "Here, let me help you."

Yuri complied and stayed still, only moving when Wolfram told him to. It took a short while before Wolfram was finally able to extract the black-haired boy from his predicament. Strange as it was, Yuri felt every touch as Wolfram would accidentally brush against him or leaned over or closer to him to move an offending mop/broom. Was a simple kiss really supposed to make Yuri so aware of what someone was doing? This was crazy.

"There." Wolfram dusted himself off and held out a hand to Yuri. Yuri took the proffered hand, and Wolfram pulled him up. Yuri winced when Wolfram touched the side of his back, just under his ribs. "Oh, I'm sorry, Yuri." He stepped back and put his hands behind his back to avoid touching him further. "Did you bruise something?"

Yuri dully nodded. "I think I jabbed myself with one of the shorter brooms. Man, I'm getting all beat up this morning."

"I'm sorry."

Yuri looked at Wolfram. "What's there to be sorry for?"

Wolfram fidgeted with his hands behind his back. "If I would have known you would have reacted like that - I should have known better, I guess. From your choking reactions to sex talk," he paused to give Yuri a chance to breathe if need be. He continued when Yuri didn't choke on his own spit, "Kissing you certainly wasn't the right answer. It was inappropriate, and I apologize for not only putting you on the spot like that, but for causing your overreaction into the pile of cleaning supplies."

Yuri's mind twisted this tone from Wolfram around in his head. Instead of replying with a 'thank you', 'I forgive you', or even a 'that was a heartfelt apology', Yuri quickly blurted out, "Damn right it was inappropriate!"

"What?!" Wolfram clenched his hands into fists by his side. "You didn't have to so readily agree, wimp."

Yuri huffed. "Well, I don't think you had the right to take my first kiss, and it was- it was so unromantic!"

"As your fiancée I completely have the right to-" Wolfram stopped short and blinked. "Your first?"

Yuri's cheeks turned a shad of bright red, and he quickly looked away from Wolfram.

"Really?" Wolfram practically wriggled in excitement. "I can't believe I got your first kiss!" He squeezed Yuri in a tight hug, grinning. "I just hope I get to claim more of your firsts."

"Aa!" Yuri shoved Wolfram away, his face still red. "Stop groping me!"

Wolfram eyed Yuri suggestively. "Was that your first groping?"

"Aa! Forget it, I'm leaving!"

Wolfram pulled Yuri back before he could reach the door. "Wait, Yuri." He dropped his hand from Yuri's arm when the black-haired boy glared at it. "I'm just teasing you; you should know that by now." Wolfram quietly chuckled. "Mom's hugs are more like excuses to grope people."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah." He was surprised to find himself calm. A moment before, Yuri was freaked out, completely out of his comfort zone. Sure, he had decided to give Wolfram a chance, but was he really ready to commit to what a gay relationship meant? Yuri didn't even really understand the steps to a _straight_ relationship. Was it okay for him to step out on the wrong foot when he had nothing to compare his connection with Wolfram to?

Certainly, Yuri was willing to admit that Wolfram was beautiful – fair-skinned and with amazingly green eyes. But Wolfram was raised as a soldier; there was nothing feminine about that. Was Yuri attracted to Wolfram's mother, Cecile? The mother and son looked so much alike that it still amazed Yuri to know that they were blood-related to Gwendal and Conrad. Yuri just remembered being in awe and shock when the former Maou Queen hugged him. She had been so soft and squishy. God, her breasts; they were gigantic!

"Yuri?"

Yuri blinked and cringed at the memory of Cecile's large breasts squishing his face. That hadn't been sexy at all. Yuri looked at Wolfram, who was standing in front of him, his cheeks faintly flushed. "Yeah?"

"You've been staring at me." Wolfram curled his hands nervously in front of him. "Wha-what were thinking about this whole time?"

"How long have we been in here?" Yuri looked around the confines of the small closet.

Wolfram shrugged. "Half-an-hour or so, I suppose."

"Aa!" Yuri threw his hands up.

"Aa?"

"We might not make it!" Yuri grabbed Wolfram's hand and bolted out the door.

Wolfram gave a slight 'meep' of surprise before he was tugged out of the storage closet.

-o-o-

End chapter 9

My readers have been patient, and I thought even the smallest bit of physical contact was due. Originally, with the way I had plotted out the story, the first official kiss doesn't happen 'til, uh, many chapters later. I feel so bad. But this is my attempt at letting Yuri go at his own pace in this relationship, which is damn slow!

So just remember that this particular story is about Yuri falling in love, with some sexual feelings to egg him on a little faster. Believe me when I say that that sort of stuff is a long way coming for Yuri. I figured to make this story about the falling in love and then perhaps make a sequel with getting into marriage and all that sort of stuff where their relationship has grown and I can get into all the smutty stuff. XD But how am I suppose to do that on fanfictiondotnet?

I promised to have Yuri's apology sort-of-date in this chapter, but it looks like it'll have to wait for next chapter again. I sowwy/defends herself in case she gets mobbed by crazy fangirls/

Read and review, please!


	10. Sneaking Out

**But I Don't Like Boys?** By Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Glad you guys are all willing to be patient and let Yuri take his time. :)

I'm so sorry I've taken so long to update! I got really busy with school and work… So to make it up for you guys, this chapter is a little longer! Not only that, the OVA came out a few days ago! If anyone finds it, please, PLEASE, direct me to where it is. I found a few sites with info about the OVA and I can't wait 'till someone fansubs it. It looks like there's more Shinou in it, and our new character Sara… from what I've heard about him in the book and game, I'm still confused on how he's going to tie in the anime series. So longer chapter to celebrate the OVA's release and to apologize for the long wait. /hugs and kisses/

Oh, and 50 reviews. /is happy/ On a side note, I couldn't remember if Ao was black or brown...

AlexeiStukov – "A little privacy?" made me crack up too. I kept seeing Wolfram's face as he turned to looked at the guards. God, it was such a sexy look. "Hey, I'm in the mood, do you mind?" He turns back to grope Yuri. Guards leave in a flustered hurry. Too bad Yuri just can't respond back to that. /sad face/

yurixwolfram – You've been reading it for so long? It was only a few weeks old then… LOL

phantome101 - Short? Really? Chapters 2-5 were way shorter… I hope this chapter makes up for it.

-o-o-

**Chapter 10: Sneaking Out**

Yuri was still holding Wolfram's hand, tugging him along behind him as they snuck around towards the front gate. But Yuri detoured them away from the entrance.

Wolfram pulled Yuri back, causing the black-haired king to stop and turn to look at Wolfram. "Where are we going, Yuri?" He whispered. "The front gate is the other way."

Yuri pointed over to the horse stables nearby. "We need to get there a little faster."

"How far are we going if we need a horse?" Wolfram's voice raised in pitch a little, and Yuri shushed him. "Why a horse?" He whispered again.

Yuri crept towards the wooden building, pushing himself against the wall. Wolfram raised an eyebrow to the king's sneaky actions, but went along with his fiancée, afraid if he didn't emulate him, Yuri might let go of his hand…

The two boys edged around the corner of the building when Yuri gave the 'all clear' and tiptoed into the stables.

"Ah, Ao, how have you been?" Yuri stepped in front of his horse's stall and patted Ao's nose over the railing.

Ao whinnied noisily and nuzzled into Yuri's hand.

"Shh!" Yuri smiled and placed both of his hands on Ao's black nose. "You have to be quiet tonight, Ao."

Wolfram rolled his eyes and turned to get his own horse. "Will we need saddles for this trip, Yuri?"

Yuri waved Wolfram over. "We're both riding Ao."

"But," Wolfram protested as Ao seemed to sneer at him. "You know Ao won't let me guide him. Why don't we just take two separate horses?"

Yuri ran his hand along Ao's neck, feeling the soft hair move under his fingers. "That's why I'm riding up front." He smiled at the horse. "You'll let Wolfram ride if I'm in the front, right?" The kind laughed as Ao quietly neighed.

"But-"

"No buts, Wolfram." Yuri unlatched the gate of Ao's stall, grabbed a halter that was hanging by the front door, and guided the beast outside. "I may not be the perfect rider, but Ao makes up for my weaknesses. Don't you?" He closed his eyes as he brushed his cheek against Ao's muzzle. Yuri put the halter on Ao, latching it under his chin and jaw. He had watched it done so many times that he put it on the horse's muzzle with relative ease. Yuri looked at Wolfram who was staring off into another direction. "You ready to go?"

Wolfram blinked. "Sure." He laughed as he watched Yuri attempt to climb onto the black horse with no saddle. "You sure you want to go bare-back?"

Yuri stopped his scrambling to glare at Wolfram. "Yes, I do. It's not too far, and we both can ride easier this way."

Wolfram pointed at the wooden bench next to him. "This is here for a reason, Yuri." He took hold of Ao's reigns and walked him to the bench. "See? It's just the right height to get on a horse."

Yuri blushed in embarrassment and stepped up onto the bench. His middle came to the horse's back, so he had to use a little bit of effort to jump and throw his leg over Ao. Yuri turned to Wolfram as the blonde climbed onto the bench. "Need a hand?"

Wolfram blushed. "What? No, I don't need your help, wimp." He shook his head and mounted Ao to sit behind Yuri.

"Geez, Wolfram!" Yuri shouted. "You don't have to be so difficult!"

Wolfram gave him a blank look. "Weren't we supposed to be quiet?"

"Ah!" Yuri froze and flushed in embarrassment again. "That's right," he said quietly.

The two sat on Ao's back for a few awkward moments, both afraid to break the silence.

"Um, Yuri."

"Here." Yuri reached behind him without turning around and held something in front of Wolfram.

"Wha-What's this?" Wolfram took the white object and watched as it unfurled in his open palm. "The blindfold? You kept this?"

Yuri fidgeted with the reigns and avoided Wolfram's curious green eyes. "I, uh – well. Aren't you going to put it on?"

Wolfram stared at the soft fabric. "Um. The blindfold, it's traditional to use on the first date. You, uh, don't have to use it for every time, Yuri."

"Oh," Yuri said, his voice quiet with disappointment. "I thought-"

"It's all right, Yuri." Wolfram placed his free hand on Yuri's back reassuringly. "I'll still put it on." The blonde tied the long white cloth around his head. "It is a symbol of trust, after all."

"You don't have to, Wolfram."

"But I want to. I have faith you." Wolfram leaned forward so his chest was nearly touching Yuri's back and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Just don't make any sudden movements."

Yuri gently tapped Ao's sides with his heels to get the horse moving. "You might want to hold on tighter," the black-haired king said as the front gate came into view.

"Why?" Wolfram asked but tightened his hold on Yuri anyway.

"We're going to make a run for it." Yuri grinned.

"But isn't the gate clo-Ah!" Wolfram didn't have the time to finish his sentence when Ao jolted forward. He closed his eyes despite the blindfold and pulled himself as close to Yuri as he could.

Yuri kicked the horse and yelled "Yah!" Ao bolted toward the looming gate, gaining speed as Yuri urged him on. A few guards ran to the gate, drawn by the commotion. They yelled for His Majesty to stop, but Yuri did not stop Ao. For a brief moment, the king's eyes and hair changed as he raised his right hand. A stream of water shot out of his palm and burst open the large wooden doors, breaking the long plank locking them shut.

Yuri rushed Ao through the open gate, throwing a piece of paper behind him. It fluttered in the night sky as the guards jumped and ran about, trying to catch it. The paper was finally caught, and the group of guards gathered about to read it.

_To Whom It Concern May:_

_I and Wolfram return soon. No follow. We be okay._

_Shibuya Yuri_

Despite His Majesty not fully grasping the Shin Makoku language, the message was clear enough. Now the guards just had to stop the few that had run after the king and prince. They should also pass the note to someone of importance.

-o-o-

Wolfram's deathgrip on Yuri didn't loosen as Ao sped on through the village's streets. It was still dark and only a few people were out this early, preparing their shops for the day's business. Yuri never once looked back. The faster they got out of town, the more likely no one would follow them.

When he had said that Ao made up for his weaknesses, Yuri hadn't realized it was so true. Ao seemed to instinctively know what the king wanted; Yuri hardly had to pull on the reigns to turn the horse down a side street. Or perhaps his horsemanship had gotten better after all. Yuri was bent over Ao's neck, careful not to be too close as to have the horse ream him in the face.

Wolfram was a silent passenger behind him. The blonde tightened and relaxed his hold around Yuri's waist as the horse changed paces or direction. Wolfram had pressed himself against Yuri's backside since the moment Ao took flight out of the gate. If he dared let go, he was sure to misjudge a movement without his eyesight and lose his balance.

"I forgot about the village entrance." Yuri sighed heavily and tugged on both sides of the reigns until Ao slowly came to a halt near the edge of town. "Any suggestions on how to get out, Wolfram?"

Wolfram reluctantly let go of Yuri's middle and sat back, taking in a deep breath. "Me? This was your idea." He pointed at the blindfold over his eyes. "This is your show, remember? You have to call the shots."

Yuri slumped forward onto Ao's neck. "I hadn't thought this totally through."

"Just like everything else," Wolfram muttered.

"What was that?" Yuri twisted to glare at Wolfram behind him, but stopped short when he met the blonde's blindfolded eyes. "Look, Wolfram, I'm trying. Shin Makoku has put me in so many new situations, most being things that I'd never have to deal with on Earth. I've been trying to deal with them as they com, but I-"

"Shh." Wolfram reached out his hand to cover Yuri's mouth, but he ended up touching the side of Yuri's nose. He repositioned his hand lower and to the left a little over Yuri's lips. He smiled and said "Shh," again. "We can talk about this later. For now, I presume this is a second date or a continuation of the one yesterday, or else you wouldn't have had me wear this." He pointed to his eyes again. "And you seem awfully antsy about getting to wherever it is we're going. Why the secrecy, Yuri? Is there really a need to keep sneaking around?"

Yuri blushed under Wolfram's blindfolded gaze. "I-I wanted us to be alone."

"Oh." Wolfram's smile turned into a smirk. "Oh…" His voice held a hint of suggestiveness.

"No! Not like that! I-" Yuri face forward on Ao's back. "You mentioned that you didn't feel like you could have a proper date with all the guards around."

Wolfram blushed a deep red. "Well, in the sense of a 'proper' date… Oh, nevermind."

"What, Wolfram?"

"Don't worry about it."

Yuri turned back to face the blonde and caught the red in his cheeks. "Tell me."

Wolfram was quiet for a moment. "Where I took you yesterday, it's a place I've used for my past dates."

"Yeah, you told me that." Yuri noted the slight ping of jealousy he felt, but brushed it aside.

"I kept going back there even though I-"

"Even though you what?" Yuri coaxed.

Wolfram sighed. "I know I said no secrets between us, but do I really have to spell it out for you? The Rose Gardens, they're a romantic place full of_ secluded _areas…"

"Then why were you so worried about guards coming by? They pass through all parts of the castle grounds. Only one went by while we were eating lunch with Greta." Yuri shrugged.

Wolfram let out an exasperated sigh. "And to think I want to couple with the most naïve man alive. Look, Yuri, I want to be alone with you in order to get your defenses down. I want to be able to talk to you, and maybe loosen you up a little, without the fear of someone showing up and making you bottle up again. I-"

"You just want to get in my pants." Yuri laughed, catching on.

Wolfram held his hands up in surrender. "You caught me."

"I – I was joking!"

Wolfram innocently shrugged. "So was I."

Yuri sighed in relief.

Wolfram smiled. "Only half-joking." He laughed as Yuri stuttered and blanched. "If you dish out a joke, Yuri, you have to be prepared for the response. You get too worked up over sex talks."

Yuri coughed. "It's just that I'm-"

"A virgin. I got that already. But so am I. You, just more so." Wolfram leaned back on his hands that were resting on Ao's curved rump. "Setting all of that aside… We have to get out of here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Where in town are we?" Wolfram leaned forward again and accidentally brushed his hand across Yuri's thigh. "Oh, sorry. If we're by the front gate… There should be a house with a black rose banner around here."

"I see it," Yuri said.

"Is it an orange banner?"

"No, it's red." Yuri looked around a little more and saw a house with an orange banner that had a picture of a black rose waving above the door. It was relatively close to them and on the same side of the road. "There's an orange one to the right of us."

Wolfram put a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Go around to the back of that house."

"Um, okay." Yuri clicked for Ao to move again and guided the horse behind the building next to them. "How can I tell which one it is from the back?" They entered a small alleyway.

Wolfram steadied himself by putting his other hand on Yuri's waist. "You'll see a black rose hanging on the door." He paused as Yuri told him that he found it. "We'll have to dismount for now."

"Oh." Yuri stopped Ao in front of the back door of the black rose house. "Stay there," he said to Wolfram, and he quickly and very ungracefully slid off the horse. On the ground, he looked up at Wolfram on Ao's back, still blindfolded. Yuri realized this was no time to be admiring Wolfram as the proud soldier he was. Wolfram still held himself with a sense of dignity and a straight back. But Yuri couldn't stop himself from watching the way the moonlight danced in his golden locks. With his eyes covered, Yuri was drawn to Wolfram's lips, and he recalled the hasty kiss in the closet. He vigorously shook his head to be rid of those cloudy thoughts and tapped Wolfram on his shin. "I'll help you get down."

Rather than snottily refusing the help, Wolfram twisted his body and brought both of his legs to one side of the horse so he could face Yuri. Yuri held up both hands, placing them on Wolfram's legs so the blindfolded blonde could find them. Wolfram quickly grabbed Yuri's hands and laced their fingers together. Yuri pulled his arms back a little so Wolfram could rest some of his weight on his hands while he jumped down. Instead though, a shiver passed through Yuri's spine as Wolfram leaned forward and moved his hands up Yuri's arms. The blonde was beginning to slide off of Ao's back when his hands found Yuri's shoulders.

Yuri instinctively stepped forward and grabbed for Wolfram's waist. As gravity pulled the blonde to the ground, Yuri moved his hands to better to catch Wolfram. He found himself blushing hotly at the feel of Wolfram's body pressed against him. Wolfram didn't seem to mind as his feet touched the ground. They were locked in some sort of embrace, Wolfram's hands on Yuri's shoulders and Yuri's hands against Wolfram's shoulder blades.

Wolfram smiled and rested the side of his head on Yuri's shoulder. "You caught me."

Yuri blushed harder. "Uh, yeah."

Wolfram leaned back as if to look at Yuri. "Grab Ao. I'll go knock."

"Oh!" Yuri's hands dropped to his sides, and he hastily went to Ao's front side, taking hold of the reigns. He watched Wolfram slowly walk forward and hold his hands out to feel for the building and find his way to the door.

Wolfram knocked three times.

-o-o-

End chapter 10.

Yay, that should be long enough. Almost 3,000 words. Take that!

I keep getting distracted by these two talking. I totally didn't have any of the dialogue with getting on the horse and going through town planned… So sorry if it feels rushed. I had to have them put a lot of branching off aside to get the discussion back to moving the plot forward. Can you guys wait for another chapter? I tried to squeeze in some stuff that would ease the wait…

Read and Review, please.


	11. Amelia, We Need a Favor

**But I Don't Like Boys?** By Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: Same as before.

Author yapping: I realized that I contradicted myself last chapter with the number of times Wolfram had been to the Rose Gardens for a /cough/ romantic getaway. I'll have to go fix that. And I'm the genius that just figured out the difference between fiancé and fiancée.

Amelia is an original character (OC) made just for this story. I didn't really want to do any OCs since I tend not like them in other fanfics. But then I realized that you can't always rely on the series' original characters to what needs to be done.

I did get to see the 1st OVA episode (with subs), and I'm so sad that I have to wait until December for the next one… And I swear to God, Shinou, if you ruin my next fanfic story, I'm going to beat you to death! So, for now, my story (and its sequel/s) will not incorporate the OVA season. I may note Sara once in awhile though later, or something, probably once I've seen all the episodes. Even then, that's so far away.

-o-o-

**Chapter 11: Amelia, We Need a Favor**

Wolfram knocked on the door three times. He stood and waited, fiddling with the hem of his jacket. Yuri watched Wolfram shift his weight from one leg to the other. _Strange, he seems nervous about something._ His thoughts about the blonde's anxious demeanor jarred when the door swung inward.

"Oh," A blue-haired young woman - it was so difficult to tell the exact age of a Mazoku – stood at the door entrance and curtsied, "Your Excellency von Bielefeld. What –" She noticed the black horse behind Wolfram, and her bright blue eyes wandered to the double black holding the horse's reigns. She blushed and hurriedly bowed lower. "Your Majesty! I –"

Yuri waved. "It's all right, no need for formality right now."

The girl raised herself up and looked back-and-forth between the blindfolded Wolfram and the stiff Yuri. She gave a knowing smile. "I see that a date needs no such formality, My King."

Yuri blushed and rubbed at the back of his head. "I, uh-"

"Amelia," Wolfram interrupted, "we need a favor."

Amelia turned to regard Yuri. "Anything for Wolfram and His Majesty."

"Please, it's just Yuri."

Amelia nodded and turned back to Wolfram. "I hadn't realized the king was so casual. Is he always like this, Your Excellency?"

Wolfram would have rolled his eyes if they hadn't been covered. "He's a wimp that's nice to everyone. Can you help us or not, Amelia?"

"What might this favor be, Your Excellency?"

"I don't know the specifics, but Yuri wants to get us out of the village," Wolfram said, waving in Yuri's general direction.

"Whatever for?" Amelia fully stepped outside and shut the door behind her. "Certainly not to elope."

Wolfram shook his head. "No, Yuri has a surprise it seems outside the city and –" He paused and turned to Yuri, his cheeks slightly flushed. "We're not going to elope… Are we?"

"What?!" Yuri aggressively shook his head. "No! God, this is getting to be a way bigger deal than it really is." The king looked at the blue-haired girl and sighed. "I don't think it's any of your business, but you seem to have some way of getting us out. I wanted to get outside the city without having to deal with guards. If anyone else knows I'm leaving, they'll follow us, and I won't be able to, uh, be alone… with Wolfram."

Amelia raised an eyebrow as the king's cheeks lightly blushed. "Did the Rose Gardens not suffice, Wolf?" She grinned as Wolfram's cheeks flared with a similar tint.

"That's beside the point, _Amy_."

Yuri looked puzzedly at them. When had they resorted to familiar names? Clearly, they knew each other, but from where and why?

Amelia clapped her hands together, pulling Yuri out of his soon-to-turn-jealous thoughts. "Let's get you two out of here. Please, follow me." She walked toward the right side of the building.

Yuri started to follow her, guiding Ao beside him. Wolfram put his left hand against the wall and slowly staggered forward. His journey was soon cut short as his foot tapped lightly on a bucket in front of him. Yuri turned to see Wolfram edge his way around the obstacle by feeling around and shook his head. "Why don't you take off the blindfold, Wolfram?" He called out.

"No!" Wolfram successfully maneuvered around the wooden bucket and continued forward, slow again as not to run into something too hard.

Amelia paused to return to Yuri. "Can I take your steed for you, Your Majesty? You should tend to His Excellency."

Yuri looked up at Ao and smiled as the horse whinnied. "I think so." He held out the reigns. "Here."

Amelia took the reigns and gently bowed. "It would be an insult to you if Wolfram took off the blindfold, Your Majesty. He's keeping your dignity in mind."

The black-haired boy sighed and went to Wolfram's side. "You really want to keep the blindfold on? It won't hurt my feelings if you take it off."

Wolfram stopped and tried to glare. "You're the one who wanted me to wear this." He shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you, Yuri? It's not about hurting your feelings; it's about tradition; it's about what this thing symbolizes." He leaned against the wall heavily. "If I take it off, it's saying that I don't trust you after all, that I don't believe you can get us to wherever the hell it is we're going."

Yuri frowned and took Wolfram's hand. "And it seems I'm missing the point. The trust part comes with me actually guiding you, right?" He tugged the prince forward and looked ahead to Amelia. "You nearly hit a rather large rock right here. You'll want to lift you foot a little higher… ah, yes, there."

-o-o-

Amelia lead Ao into the stable on the other side of the building and watched as Yuri in turn guided Wolfram into the small building. "Will you be needing your horse still, Your Majesty?"

"How are we getting out?" Yuri asked, sitting his fiancé on a small bench near the entrance.

"Wolfram didn't explain to you what I do?" She continued when Yuri shook his head. "I'm a teleporter."

"Teleporter?" Yuri cocked his head to one side.

Wolfram laid his head back against the wall and spoke up into the air. "She uses water to teleport things to other places."

Yuri's eyes widened. "But I thought only Shinou, and… and I, had that power. Why-"

Amelia quickly waved her hands to correct the king. "No, I don't have _that _much power. I can transfer things small distances, here in this world only. Getting you outside the city will be no problem." She brushed a hand through her curling blue hair and smiled. "If you're not going too far, it would be easier if you left your horse here. My power is limited on how large an object I can send. I could send him after the two if you if you still need him."

Yuri looked back to Wolfram who sat quietly on the bench still. He stepped closer to Amelia and whispered, "There's a hill that over-looks the village…"

Amelia drew her ear away from the king and nodded, needing no further description. They smiled in understanding. Yuri took Ao from her and patted his nose. "Don't worry, we'll be back in a few hours to get you." The black horse neighed as he pulled Yuri towards a horse stall. Yuri peeked over the gate to see a light brown mare resting in a pile of hay in the corner of her pen. Ao pawed at the wood blocking his path to her. "Oh, please, Ao. She's not even awake. Besides, I'm not sure the people here would appreciate an outside horse making with the busy here with their girl."

Amelia giggled. "Actually, Your Majesty, it'd more likely be the other way. All of the horses at the palace are known for being purebreds and basically perfect. Belle, here, isn't quite as carefully bred. It'd actually be more of an honor if Ao, is that right, mated with her."

"Is that so?" Yuri beamed up at his purebred horse. "I don't know how the guys at the palace would like that, but… Is it all right if Ao stays with Belle? I don't really want him to be lonely while we're gone."

Wolfram had pushed himself off the bench and slowly shuffled forward, hands out in front of him. Yuri dropped Ao's reigns to intercept him. The blonde smiled up at Yuri. "It's your horse, Yuri. If you want him breeding with a horse we know nothing about, that's your decision. Then again, that's even hypothetical since we don't know if she's interested."

"Oh, but you don't remember Belle, Wolfram?" Amelia stroked Ao's neck.

"Ao's trying to go after Belle? Good luck with her." Wolfram laughed. "She was a stubborn horse if I recall."

Amelia laughed with Wolfram. "She hasn't changed a bit."

"You hear that, Ao? They doubt your courting abilities." Yuri shook his head as Ao snorted. The black-haired boy led Wolfram to the edge of the wall and turned to open the gate for his horse to canter into Belle's stall. He reached out to take off Ao's halter and scratched the white spot between his eyes. "You play nice now. You must properly court her, Ao." The horse stood at the gate and stared at Yuri, as if listening. "If she isn't interested, you have to give her a reason to be interested, right? But, don't force anything on her. If you can't breed with her today, we can always bring you back another time." Yuri gave Ao a final pat and turned back to Wolfram and Amelia.

Amelia watched as Ao walked towards the mare, stood for a moment, and then gingerly laid down beside her. Had Ao actually listened to what Yuri had to say?

"Besides, I wouldn't mind coming back." Yuri looked at Amelia and smiled. "If you can use water as you say, that's a trick I'd like to learn myself. That is, if you wouldn't mind teaching me."

"It would be an honor to teach you water teleportation, Your Majesty." Amelia held out her small hand to Yuri. "Put one of your hands in that water trough there beside you, and give me the other."

Wolfram stiffened and jumped (where he hoped was) in-between them. "No touching allowed." He crossed his arms and threw his head to one side.

"Oh, please, Wolfram. As if His Majesty is my type." Amelia quickly grabbed Wolfram and Yuri's hands. "Just put it in the water, and we'll get this done with."

Yuri was about to protest with 'what's that supposed to mean?', but shot down the complaint, realizing that would cause the blonde to have a worse outburst. He watched Wolfram feel around for the water trough that was a little above waist-high. Yuri placed his own hand in the water to find it unexpectedly cold.

"Yuri," Amelia was saying as she closed her eyes, "you can help me if you'd like. It'll be easier with two." Her grip tightened around Yuri's fingers. "You're tuned to water from what I recall… Reach out and look for a body of water near the place you want to go."

The king nodded and closed his eyes. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Yuri wasn't sure what Amelia had meant about 'reach out' but he did remember a lake that was about a mile away.

"No, that lake's too far away, Your Majesty. It doesn't have to be a really large body of water. Even a drop will do. _Feel_ for the water."

Yuri frowned and crinkled his eyebrows in concentration. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he did notice a patch of blue behind his closed eyes and went to go investigate.

"Yes, that will do, Your Majesty," Amelia said. "Now hold on."

Yuri was about to open his eyes to ask her what to hold on to before he felt the ground fly out from underneath him. There was a slurping sound, and the world turned blue.

-o-o-

End chapter 11.

Yep, I think Yuri's not very attentative(sp?) to his fiancé… but that's a part of a relationship that he's learning. He can't be a hopeless romantic right from the get-go. Not only that, Yuri's friendly with anyone, even if he shouldn't like them (for whatever reason), so he tends to get along with people really quickly.

I don't remember exactly where that hill was, but I know near Shinou's temple there was one. Last I saw, there was another that was close to Blood Pledge Castle, but I could be wrong. I'm probably thinking about the one that the castle was built on. And don't ask me if there really was a lake, I'm just making stuff up.

And Amelia will show up a few times more. I poked around for names, so I wasn't just grabbing a Japanese name, since most of the Shin Makoku names have a German origin. Amelia is associated with the ocean. If you follow the name all the way to the root, you get the masculine Emil which comes from the Roman family name _Aemilius_, which was derived from Latin _aemulus_ meaning "rival". Not that Amelia's going to turn out to be a rival; I just thought that tidbit was interesting. Trust me, you'll see when Yuri comes back to talk to her. Even the horse, Belle, has an English name that is associated with beauty. Got the info from behindthename dot com

Read and review, please.


	12. Sunrise

**But I Don't Like Boys?** By Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I'm wondering why you got all the way to this chapter... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Yay! It's almost Christmas, so here's a little gifty! I'm sorry that it's shorter than I wanted it to be, but really, I think you'll all be okay with it. I actually planned to have more talk than this, but I can save that for another date. And actually, it's probably the longest chapter yet!

And since I'm really excited about this chapter, I didn't really proofread through it much; I'm sorry. But do enjoy!

BloodRaevynn – Thanks for telling me how to spell eavesdropping. I had typed it one way, knowing that wasn't right, but since it was all still spelled correctly of course Microsoft Word wouldn't tell me how it really went.

Phantome101 – Hmm… Guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Lilgurlanima – I'm so glad there are more people that like the Ao and Belle thing. Not that I'm trying to get you all into animal love, I just thought it'd be kind of cute. Plus, it shows that Yuri _knows_ what he's supposed to do but not necessarily knows how to follow through with it.

rein-hitomi – Yeah, I tend to have quite a few errors, mostly from me trying to rush it out so that others can read it. No betas… Perhaps I should look into one/looks into the crowd/ Any takers? Oh, phoo, just look at the note after the chapter for details.

-o-o-

**Chapter 12: Sunrise**

Yuri opened his eyes and looked up into the morning sky. The Sun had been slowly creeping its way to the horizon while he and Wolfram had been talking with Amelia in the horse stable, making the sky a soft blue with a hint of orange along the mountain tops and the clouds were tinted pink, a nice wash of cool pastels that varied to the hot reds and oranges that came with the setting of the Sun. He turned to the East, where the light was the brightest to see that the Sun had yet to rise over the mountain tops.

The king sat up and looked down to see Wolfram pushing himself off the ground on his hands and knees, feeling around in the blades of grass. "Is this the place then?" Wolfram asked as he sat back with his legs under him.

"Just a little further." Yuri took Wolfram's hand and stood up, pulling the blonde up with him.

A large tree sat atop the hill overlooking the village, and Yuri guided Wolfram to it, letting Wolfram feel the bark under his fingers. Yuri reached out as he stood behind Wolfram to remove the blindfold. The blonde stood still and balanced his weight on the tree trunk. As the white cloth fell away from his eyes, he blinked. "Oh, Yuri," Wolfram said and pushed himself away from the tree to look down the hill to the castle and village below. He smiled.

Yuri sat down at the base of the tree, leaning his back against it and looked over the village to the light flowing from beyond the mountains. He smiled up at Wolfram, not exactly sure what to do now that they were truly alone and in the place he had wanted to bring him.

Wolfram sat beside Yuri, drawing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on one of his knees. "Now that you've got me out here, did you want to talk about anything?" He tilted his head a little. "Or did you want to just enjoy the view?"

The king pondered for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows, confusion still nagging away at his conscience. "I'm not sure what I want to do now. When I woke up this morning, I realized the Sun hadn't come up yet, and I thought we could watch it together." He sighed. "But of course, the trip here was a little longer than I anticipated, and it was blown way out of proportion."

Wolfram softly giggled into his knees. "Well, you did run around with such a sense of urgency…"

Again, the boys sat in silence, awaiting the rising of the Sun over the mountains. The air was cool high above the village, and Wolfram shivered as a breeze floated by. The blonde scooted closer to Yuri and slowly placed the side of his head on Yuri's shoulder. The king tensed for a moment, looking down to Wolfram, but smiled and turned back to watch the brightening light.

"Hey, Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

Wolfram took in a deep breathe and slowly let it out. "I know – I know your mom talked you into this whole this thing. I want to know if you're really okay with trying to see if a relationship will work out for us. We – you've denied it so much in the past, and I…" He bit on his lower lip nervously. "I mean, I don't want to ruin anything. If you're willing to try, maybe I should be happy just for that, but –"

Yuri kept his eyes on glowing mountains. "I guess it's not fair for me to deny you love because of your gender. I don't think it's fair to deny love for any reason. Like Nicola and Huber. So what if she's a human and he's a Mazoku. Although, that's a little different than guy/guy relationships…" Yuri tilted his head to rest it on the top of Wolfram's head and smiled. "I haven't really let this guy thing sink in a lot, but maybe it can't be so bad. I think I could have fallen for you if you were a girl, simply because my heart and head wouldn't have to fight about it." Yuri snickered. "Then again, you're bratty and demanding, and I don't think I'd like that in a girl."

"Well, you're not all that great of a catch yourself." Wolfram snorted.

"And how is that?" Yuri gently shrugged his shoulder, and Wolfram sat up to look at Yuri.

"You make some of the most moronic decisions. You're a cheater-"

"I haven't cheated on any body! That's all you over-analyzing the situation." Yuri cut in, pointedly waving a finger at Wolfram.

"I have every right to be jealous! You're my fiancé, you're the king, you're good-looking, you're overly nice and kind to everyone. So of course everyone in the kingdom is out to get on your good side, and most of them want to wriggle their way into your heart, a damn hard place to get to if you ask me-"

"But you are in my heart, Wolfram." Yuri sadly smiled. "Just not in the way that you want it to be. And I… I'm trying to get you there…"

Wolfram gazed at Yuri with his big emerald eyes as he smiled. "This may sound a little silly but… Is this romantic enough for a kiss?" Wolfram averted his eyes and gently blushed.

Yuri watched as the pink-orange glow of the Sun peeked over the mountains, finally coming to greet the day. He turned back to Wolfram with a slight blush as well and replied, "Actually, it is."

Wolfram shyly smiled and leaned towards his fiancé, putting a hand on Yuri's thigh and the other reaching up to cup his cheek. Yuri didn't back away or refuse Wolfram's advances; after all, he'd been the one to okay it, but he did find himself thinking far too much about the situation. His heart had begun hammering in his chest as Wolfram's fingers came in contact with his cheekbone, and he swallowed hard. This was going to be his first consensual kiss, and with a guy nonetheless; he was totally going to screw this up. Yuri closed his eyes and swallowed again as he felt Wolfram's warm breath on his chin.

Yuri heard Wolfram's deep and shuddering breaths, heard the blonde swallow just had he had earlier. Wolfram shouldn't have been nervous about this, he'd been the one to ask for a kiss and the one to initiate one not two hours ago. But Yuri did find some confidence in the reality that Wolfram was at least a little bit unsure, anxious, just as he was.

The king opened his eyes a little to better see what he was doing; it would not do to bonk each other's noses. Yuri scooted a hair closer to Wolfram and twisted his body so he could place the top of his fingers under Wolfram's jaw and his thumb on Wolfram's chin to guide the blonde's already titled head. At this angle, Yuri had to drop his head down and push his fingers with a slight pressure to bring Wolfram's chin up. And Yuri captured Wolfram's lips with his own. Yuri felt Wolfram slightly pull back and his sharp intake of breath as if the blonde hadn't been expecting the kiss after all, but the black-haired king held Wolfram's chin in place, his head moving with the prince's to keep their lips together.

The kiss was short, just a slight pressure of lips touching, a gentle caress. Yuri found it similar to earlier's kiss, and yet, so much more different. It hadn't been unexpected, and Yuri had the chance to feel Wolfram's soft and warm lips. Yuri wondered for the briefest of moments what would happen if he moved a little and possibly deepened the kiss, until Wolfram pulled away. The blonde sighed as their lips parted, slowly dropping his hand to Yuri's chest, feeling his heart beating. They drew back from one another, bashfully smiling until Yuri's turned into some sort of grin and Wolfram's cheeks turned redder, turning his eyes away.

Yuri was willing to admit that he had enjoyed it. The mood had certainly been romantic enough to soothe his nerves, and although his first real kiss had been with a male, Yuri didn't mind too much. This sort of stuff was what Wolfram wanted in their relationship, something that showed him that Yuri was actually willing to participate, within certain limits, of course.

"So, um…" Yuri scratched the back of his neck as he watched the full roundness of the Sun gradually rising into the sky. "What now?"

Wolfram returned to his original position with his chin in his knees. "Why?"

"Eh?" Yuri's hand paused. "Why what?"

Wolfram buried his face in his knees, only his eyes visible over the curve of his shoulder. "You," he swallowed and closed his eyes, "you kissed me."

"You didn't want me to?" Yuri furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde. "I thought that's what you wanted. Did – did you not… like it?"

Wolfram's eyes widened, and he turned to look at Yuri. "No, that's not it. I mean, I did enjoy it," he cast his eyes away with a slight blush. "I want to know why you did it, Yuri."

Yuri leaned forward, situating himself in a similar position as Wolfram but with one knee drawn up to his chest. "I guess this gets back into why I want to try dating you. Let's just leave it at that I wanted to. Not everything has to be explained right away." Yuri gazed at Wolfram. "Especially when I haven't figured it all out yet."

"Greta might be waking up soon and wondering why we're not there…" Wolfram changed the subject with a nod.

Yuri laughed. "You had a date with her today, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Wolfram sighed. "But is it all right if we stay here just a little longer?"

"That's fine."

So they sat in silence again, watching the Sun, blushing every now and then as they recalled their slightly intimate moment. When the sky had finally returned to its normal blue color, and Wolfram found himself starting to lean against Yuri drowsily, Yuri stated that they should get back before they got too relaxed and fell asleep. Wolfram nodded and rubbed his eyes, yawning. Yuri returned the yawn and giggled.

"Stop yawning. You're gonna make me tired, too, and I slept half the day away yesterday." Yuri stretched as he stood up.

Wolfram stretched his arms over his head. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm so boring."

Yuri held out his hand to help Wolfram up. "I never said you were boring. In fact," he pulled Wolfram to his feet, "I think you're quite interesting. You really keep me on my toes with your flippant attitudes and offbeat personality. It's no wonder your element is fire."

The blonde opened his mouth to retort, but Yuri continued, "It also makes you more passionate. I have no doubt about that." He laughed.

Wolfram 'humphed' and stomped down the hill, back towards the village, but Yuri didn't miss the slight smile that tugged at Wolfram's mouth. They didn't talk much as they walked the path around the village walls to the front gate, mostly what Wolfram had planned with Greta this afternoon, and if perhaps, Yuri could join them.

And if on cue, Conrad came on horseback to return them home, lightly threatening that Gunter would give them a scolding when they got back to the castle. That man always seemed to know where Yuri ran off to, so it wasn't any surprise to the king that he had brought a spare horse for them to ride back.

"What happened to Ao, Yuri?" Conrad questioned as the guards took positions around them.

"Oh, he's with Belle and Amelia." Yuri nodded. "I'll get him tonight. I don't want to spoil his fun."

"Amelia, huh?" Conrad gave Wolfram, whom had taken to steer the horse, a knowing look. "When was the last time you saw her?"

Wolfram gave his older brother a fiery glare. "How do you know if we're even talking about _that_ Amelia, Conrad?"

Conrad reached forward and patted his horse's neck. "Amelia had a horse named Belle, but it was a young filly then. Yes, and you two had horseback training together if I recall."

"Oh…" Yuri piped up from behind Wolfram. "That's how you two know each other. I thought maybe you dated her."

Conrad and Wolfram simultaneously sighed. When Yuri didn't get a clear response from either of the brothers, he sat back and finished the ride through the village in silence. That was mostly because he had to keep smiling and waving at the villagers as if he were in some sort of parade again.

-o-o-

Gunter's scolding hadn't been as bad as Yuri thought it could have been, but Conrad had insisted that he knew where they were the whole time and had given the okay. That wasn't all true, but Yuri thanked him profusely anyway when they were out of Gunter's earshot.

Conrad patted Yuri's head. "Just make sure something good comes of this." The taller man lowered his voice, his eyes looking at Wolfram while he whispered to Yuri. "And be gentle with my little brother's feelings." Conrad smiled and left.

Yuri turned to Wolfram, motioning with hand for them to walk together. "What do you plan to do before you go to see Greta?"

Wolfram shrugged. "I thought I'd get some sword practice done. Why? What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure." Yuri laughed. "Even though I asked for the weekend off, I don't have anything in mind. As long as it doesn't involve studying or writing, I'm up for it."

Wolfram stopped when they reached Yuri's room. "If you want to relax, you could always take a bath."

"That actually sounds like a good idea. Do you, uh," Yuri open his bedroom door and stopped, "want to join me?"

Wolfram stepped forward and gave Yuri a quick kiss on the cheek. "I think you'll be seeing enough of me for a day. As much as I loved to, I think you should take the time to rest alone."

"What was that for?" Yuri leaned against the open door frame.

"What?"

Yuri pointed at his left cheek. "The kiss, the kiss. You get to question my kiss, so I get to question the motive behind your kiss."

Wolfram smiled. "It's complementary to give a kiss on the left cheek after a date. It means that you enjoyed yourself and look forward to another one."

"What does a kiss on the right cheek mean?" Yuri asked, looking from one side of Wolfram's face to the other.

"That's mostly just a friendly greeting, but you should have known that already." Wolfram turned and waved. "I'll-"

"Wolfram, wait." Yuri grasped the blonde's wrist.

Wolfram rotated around to face Yuri again, surprise filling his eyes when Yuri took hold of his face with both hands and laid a peck on his left cheek. Wolfram's visage took on a color of red that he hadn't thought was possible as Yuri pulled away and smiled at him.

"I just wanted to make sure." Yuri dropped his hands and stepped back. "Didn't want to get the wrong side or anything."

Wolfram garbled something non-coherent as he dropped his head to hide his eyes behind his blond bangs. He tried to regain his composure and yelled, "You're such a wimp!" Then he bolted off down the hall.

"Wimp?!" Yuri shouted back. He sighed and shut the door behind him as he entered his room. "I just don't understand you, Wolfram," he said to himself, gathering bath supplies. "I wonder if I ever will."

-o-o-

End chapter 12

OOCness?! But I guess that's bound to happen when Yuri and Wolfram actually show romantic emotions that aren't revealed in the series…

Something I had thought about while watching the sunrise myself was that it has all those pretty varying colors because of all the pollution. I assume that in Shin Makoku, they wouldn't have that, so really, would the sunrise/set have those colors? Ah, just go with it. Actually, the sunrise that I was watching wasn't really a sunrise as I was driving up in the mountains, and the Sun just hadn't come up over them yet. That's sort of what I was envisioning now, so that's why the sky isn't quite as orangey as it would have been earlier.

Geez! I stretched that kiss until it couldn't be stretched anymore… And sad to say that the kiss on the check after the date was my originally planned first "kiss". I found so many moments when Yuri said something and they totally should have made out after that, but gah… It's so hard to keep up with Yuri's pace.

And I'm sorry the return home wasn't all too detailed. I kept trying to get them back to the castle since the rest of that isn't too important.

Read and review, please!

**Beta?!** So, I should get a beta for this since it's gotten way longer than I had originally thought it was going to be. So, if you're interested, please send me an email (on my profile). Of course, in order to be a beta, you have to know how to spell and have proper grammar and all of that (English as your first language preferably), so to test you, I'll send a response email with an earlier chapter that have purposeful errors that I expect you to find. There, I'd like it if you had Microsoft Word or something like that to also be able to check the mistakes. I'll get into more detail in the email. I also need a quick response. If you only get on the internet once a month, that wouldn't be fair to your fellow readers now would it for them to have to wait so long…

But don't worry, with the responsibility of checking my mistakes and doing so quickly, comes cookies! You'll be the first to read the next chapters, and I'll probably bug you for insight, asking if something works for events I have planned in the future. So I might just spoil everything for you. /cackles/ You might even get a peek at my other KKM fic I'm working on… but it'll be too sexy to post on FFdotnet.


	13. Go With Me?

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime series, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story (and other gay relationships most likely), and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Ah! Shinou, you suck/makes weird fangirl faces/ KKM Ova 3 was certainly awesome, but alas, I'll have to wait to understand what's going on when the subbed version comes out. But it was a Wolfram/Yuri-happy episode, so /squeals/

I apologize that this chapter isn't too interesting. It's basically a transition chapter… and it wasn't originally planned. And that's probably why it didn't take too long

Over 100 reviews! And thanks to my two so-far betas: Hayabusa Reiatsuma and Pretty Rainbow. You guys made me feel better about this chapter.

MostlyLovely – The 'I love you' comes way later. Actually, that's the real goal of this story. So you'll have to sit back patiently and wait until Yuri is ready to confess his feelings. /tries to make a smiley face but can't do it on FFdotnet/ Curse them and their stupid coding thing.

Hayabusa Reiatsuma – You flooded my mail box with all your reviews/giggly face/ I'm glad that you liked it enough to make some comments for the earlier chapters.

Zumae – Yes, Yuri is going a little quickly for someone who's supposed to be so insecure, but that's me, the writer, being really impatient. I'm forcibly pushing him along.

-o-o-

**Chapter 13: Go With Me?**

Yuri blew bubbles in his bath water, mulling and brooding over the recent turn of events. The hot water made steamy clouds in the chilly air; despite the end of winter, the cold still ventured into the stony castle walls, and Yuri didn't want to get out of the blissful temperature. Upon seeing his wrinkled fingers as he poked them above the water though, Yuri was beginning to change his mind. Just a few more minutes.

The king swam around in his shallow bath pool, carefully keeping all of his body under the water to avoid the cold. It seemed that one date wasn't really enough for someone to muddle through their feelings and realize what they meant, so Yuri knew he'd have to go on another date with Wolfram. Really though, what difference did a date make? They were alone quite often, talking, arguing, or whatever it is that they were doing at the time. Except not _doing_, of course… Yuri shook his head to quickly toss that wandering thought aside. He and Wolfram had slept in the same bed for over half a year now; surely, they had time to talk alone then. Oh God, that night was going to be so awkward.

Yuri lazily walked up the steps to dry off, met the change in temperature, and instantly dropped back into the water. Not that it was _that _cold; it just felt better in the bath. He leaned against the bath wall, resting his head on the ground behind him as he stared through the steam at the ceiling. Was he going to have to be physical with Wolfram now that they had kissed? There were bases to cover though, bases that shouldn't be skipped, but did Wolfram know that?

Yuri scoffed at his ridiculous thoughts. He hadn't even made it to first base with Wolfram, not really. This was more of a foul ball; the hope of first base was there, and he hadn't struck out, but he'd have to try again. Why the hell was he thinking about stuff like that?! Yuri dropped his head under the soapy water for a moment as if that could clean out his mind.

He resurfaced and quickly pulled himself out of the bath to grab his towel. Normally, he'd have a servant or two that soaped, rinsed, and dried him, or Wolfram when he pestered Yuri into letting him to do it, but lately, he'd been fending them off, wanting nothing more than to take care of himself and relax, especially for a bath. He'd had his fair share of wandering hands, and surprisingly, they had never been Wolfram's. Not that he _wanted _Wolfram's hands wandering; he just didn't want anyone's hands straying from where they should be. Those few servants that had grazed a hand across his thigh or butt cheek definitely did not do so on accident. The touches made Yuri feel more awkward and nervous than turned on, and he always kicked someone out the moment they made an inappropriate move. He found he had more problems like that when he had shared a bath with someone, rather than alone with just one servant.

Yuri dried his hair with the towel, realizing that he sounded like a sexual harassment victim and laughed. It didn't change his opinion on men though, or the few women that had snuck in sometimes, Yuri just tried to avoid or immediately reprimand the situation. Before he had become the Maou, he might have let some of things slide, simply out of embarrassment. Perhaps Wolfram was right when he said everyone was out to get into the King's pants.

He found it strange that Wolfram hadn't tried anything while they were bathing, there certainly was the opening for it, and the prince joked about it every now and then, but he never followed through with the offer or threat. Yuri knew Wolfram was interested, especially from the comment he had made yesterday about wanting him, and he was comforted to know that the blonde was willing to not step over any lines. Then again, the King may have tried to run away the moment that happened, and Wolfram would have lost any ground he had made thus far. And yet, that made him a little nervous, too. If Wolfram was constantly walking on eggshells around him, and Yuri started to let his guard down, would Wolfram eventually test his boundaries?

Maybe trying out this dating thing was actually a worse idea than trying to avoid it. If Wolfram got a taste of what things could be like, and then was rejected, Yuri could be in for some serious trouble. But Yuri would never figure anything out if he didn't _attempt_ a relationship. So in the end, Yuri was really the one testing the waters.

-o-o-

After lunch, Yuri joined Wolfram and Greta in the gardens for their floral arrangements rendezvous. Although those few hours went smoothly, Yuri royally sucked at making flower necklaces. And try as Greta might, she just couldn't get her father to understand the gentle technique it took to make a hole in the flower stem and then to thread another stem through that hole.

Wolfram's flower crown didn't look much better, but then again, he had some strange artistic eye that Yuri couldn't understand. The crown had a haphazard pattern with different flowers randomly placed in the ring, and they were unevenly placed. At least Wolfram was able to finish it.

But Greta praised her Papa Wolfram over the crown, placing it on her head and spinning in circles. Before the Sun had set, she had made two matching crowns which she gave to Yuri and Wolfram, a necklace and a bracelet she put on herself, and a singular pink flower ring she was going to save for Anissina.

-o-o-

"Hey, Wolfram," Yuri said as he finished a bite of his fruit. He placed his fork back onto his plate and smiled when Wolfram turned to him with a 'hm?'. "Do you want to come with me to pick up Ao?"

By now the buzz of what had actually transpired this morning had made their ways around the castle, so Yuri didn't feel the need to hide the fact that Ao was elsewhere. Of course, some of the rumors were ridiculously over-exaggerated with stories of eloping, a failed runaway, and even a threesome made it in there somehow.

Wolfram cut a piece of meat and gingerly chewed it. "You mean to see Amelia?" He waved his empty fork at Yuri. "I saw the way you looked at her."

Yuri slammed his fork on the table after he took a bite of fruit again. "You were blindfolded!"

The blonde stabbed another piece of meat. "I know you were looking at her. Don't try to fool me, cheater. Amelia was always a beautiful girl, probably your type."

"My type?!" Yuri roughly stood up from his chair, causing the others seated at the table to rise as well. He paused and blushed, realizing they were standing out of courtesy to the king. "Ah, sorry. Please, sit back down." Yuri looked at Wolfram with a slight glare. "Except for you. We're taking this out into the hallway." He motioned at the rest of the table. "Please continue your meal."

Wolfram followed Yuri with an indifferent look as his family and Gunter took their seats again. He grimaced as his mother waved and shouted, "Good luck!" A guard opened the door for them, and the two stepped into the hallway.

Wolfram leaned against the wall with his back, crossing his arms over his chest. "What now, wimp?"

"You're so frustrating, Wolfram," Yuri said, drawing his hand up to his forehead. "I just don't understand what your problem is. I understand your jealousy, but you need to get over it. If I become interested in someone, you'll be the first to know."

"So there might be someone in the picture, after all?" Wolfram stared down the long hallway.

"No!" Yuri snapped. "There might not even be a _you_ in the picture if you don't stop acting like this! Trust, Wolfram. You just have to trust me." The king stepped towards the prince, placing both hands on the wall on either side of Wolfram's head. "I don't think I've really every been interested in someone. I've thought someone was beautiful or nice, but I never gave the notion of dating them a thought, since they were always out of my league. Even as king, where I could have anyone I wanted almost, I still don't feel anything romantic."

"But there was Elizabeth," Wolfram pointed out, staring Yuri in the eyes.

Yuri didn't break away from Wolfram's gaze, but he did frown slightly. "As if that would have worked out. Another girl that was interested in someone better-looking. It's the way things tend to work. I knew better than to get my hopes up." He pushed off the wall and stood back to look at Wolfram. "And as for Amelia, yes, she's very pretty, but I hardly know her, and apparently, I'm not her type. So I think that rules out something happening between us.

"And I swear, if this Amelia girl is another one of your non-fiancée deals, I get to be the one calling you a cheater." Yuri grinned at Wolfram. So are you coming with me, or not?"

Wolfram nodded.

Yuri walked to the dining room door and turned back to Wolfram. "Let's finish our dinner, and then we'll go for a short visit."

-o-o-

Two of Wolfram's personal guards joined the king and prince on their trip to Amelia's, convincing them to take a carriage since it was getting dark. This time though, they knocked at the front entrance.

"Why did we have to go through the back the first time then?" Yuri asked Wolfram.

"I'll explain when we're not in public."

"Oh, it's like one of those secret code things…" Yuri whispered.

Wolfram nodded. "I guess."

Amelia answered the door after a few knocks. "Oh, Your Majesty." When she eyeballed the guard standing behind them, she smiled. "Not taking the back-route out of town, I see."

The two boys smiled with a small blush, and Amelia fully opened the front door. "You must be here to pick up Ao then." She shut the door behind her. "Follow me; we have to go through the side gate to get to the stables." Amelia smiled at Wolfram as she passed. "Good to see your pretty green eyes again, Your Excellency."

Yuri gently slugged Wolfram in the shoulder and laughed jokingly. "Now who's the cheater?"

Wolfram growled at his fiancé. "As if you aren't staring at her. Those pants don't leave much to the imagination."

Amelia whirled around and threw her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at Wolfram. "And what on Shin Makoku is _that_ supposed to mean, Wolfram? If you're going to talk behind someone's back, do so where they can't hear you. These happen to be riding pants. They're_supposed_ to be tight."

Wolfram halted and visibly paled. "I-"

"-Didn't think," Amelia continued. "I'm a married woman, Wolfram, and the two of you are betrothed. Although, I hear there are conflicts with that arrangement, I know there's got to be some sense of loyalty between you two. I would have thought you had grown up by now, Wolfram."

"You cheated on me!" Wolfram shouted at Amelia.

"That was ten years ago!" Amelia shouted back.

"You're married?" Yuri suddenly asked. Both Amelia and Wolfram stopped glaring at one another long enough to look at the king whom was searching her left hand with his eyes.

Amelia held up her right hand, revealing a thin silver band on her ring finger. "Yes, I am, Your Majesty."

Yuri took her right hand and studied the simple band.

"We couldn't afford much, Your Majesty." Amelia tucked a blue strand of hair behind her ear with her free hand.

"No, I like it. Women on Earth tend like these huge and gaudy rings, with gigantic diamonds. But I was more curious as to why it was on your right hand." Yuri gave her her hand back, surprised that Wolfram hadn't pummeled him for touching her.

"Are rings worn on the left hand on Earth, Your Majesty?" Amelia looked at her wedding band and smiled.

Yuri shrugged. "I know they're like that in Japan and I think in America, too. I'm not sure about the rest of the world."

"Wait," Wolfram cut in, "whatever happened to Marie?"

"Marie?" Yuri gave Wolfram a confused look.

"Silly," Amelia smiled broader, "we got married."

Wolfram's eyes opened wide. "Really?!"

Suddenly, Yuri's eyes opened wider. "You're a lesbian?!"

-o-o-

End chapter 13.

Okay, as for timeframe, I wasn't really sure when to go with this. Yuri was born in July (right?) and had been 15 in the series, and it didn't sound like he had really recently turned 15 either. So I took that the series might have started in September or something with the start of school. (Then again, Japan has a different education system… Blah.) But he hadn't yet turned 16 by the end ('cause of that 16-year ceremony thing that still makes no sense!), so a year hadn't gone by. So I guestimated at least a few months had gone by in the series, if not more. It seems that my story picks up sometime at the very beginning of spring, probably in March or April.

I almost made Yuri sound like some rape victim or something… I was just yapping on about why he likes to takes baths alone now, and it started to sound like guys were taking advantage of him! But Yuri's strong and always stuck up for himself, not letting these perverts have their way with him. So no, it didn't alter his feelings for guys, I can't really explain how it didn't; it just didn't. It doesn't bother him, really; he's figuring out that that is the way some people are, and they need a proper kick in the shins. And no one ever touch him _there_.

I looked up some info about wedding rings, too. I found that in Germany, they're worn on the right hand, and that's why I choose for Shin Makoku to have it that way. Remember the German names?

Read and review, please!


	14. Did You Ever Love?

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping: Hope you guys like this chapter. It's strange that I was fighting to squish stuff in the story so that Yuri and Wolfram weren't constantly just going on dates. And now that I've added Amelia, I have stuff to put in!

Sailor Sayuri – Your review made me make the faces that were in it. ('Cause FFdotnet still doesn't let me make them here. /sad face/)

-o-o-

**Chapter 14: Did You Ever Love?**

"Pardon, Your Majesty?" Amelia raised a quizzical eyebrow at the king.

Yuri put a hand over his mouth, embarrassment flooding his face for blurting out something like that. Was that really even his business?

Amelia smiled in understanding. "You want to know if I like girls, Your Majesty? Now that I'm married, yes, you could technically say that I am a lesbian. 'Cause now there's no real reason to be bisexual, is there?" She giggled a little and started to walk away. "Come, let's get Ao before you become more distracted."

"Is Marie here?" Wolfram jogged forward to walk beside Amelia.

"Yes, she lives with me here. If you two come back again, you can see her. I think she'll be glad to see you, Your Excellency." Amelia opened the side gate and ushered the two boys and guard in. "She'd be honored to meet you of course, Your Majesty."

Yuri nodded. "I'd like to come back. I had hoped you could teach me about water teleportation. I mean, I can do it, but there's no control. Meeting Marie would be an added bonus." He smiled. "I have all sorts of questions. It's just too bad it's getting late."

"It's for the better." Amelia picked up a bucket that she found in the yard, taking it with her to the stables. "Marie was sleepy and wanted to go to bed, but I had some chores around the house to attend to before retiring myself. Plus, I had to wait for you to return for your horse."

Ao loudly neighed as the group entered the wooden barn. Yuri ran to his horse and pulled his neck into a hug. "Have you been a good boy, Ao?"

Ao neighed again.

Amelia stepped beside the king and patted the black horse's muzzle. "Ao was very well behaved today. Although, I can't say the same for Belle."

As if sensing someone was talking bad about her, the tan mare, Belle, poked her head over the gate next to Ao and snorted.

"What?" Amelia patted her muzzle as well. "You were quite rude to Ao, Belle." The blue-haired girl waggled a finger at her. "You were the one doing all the kicking and biting. Poor Ao couldn't do anything more than get out of your way."

Wolfram looked over the pen's fence at the rest of Ao's body. "She bit him?"

Amelia joined Wolfram. "Not enough to break skin. She was mostly doing it to show her dominance. Ao accepted that; although, it's usually the other way around with animals." She smoothed her hand over Ao's back. "They were inseparable for the rest of the day though. When I took Belle out for her walk, Ao had to come, too." Amelia looked at Yuri funny. "But they didn't 'make with the busy' as you put it, Your Majesty."

"That's the spirit, Ao!" Yuri hugged his horse's neck again. "It sends off the wrong message if you have sex on the first date. We'll just have to come back again. That is," Yuri cautiously reached out and touched Belle's nose, "as long as Belle wants you to."

Belle whinnied and nuzzled her nose in Yuri's palm.

Amelia sat at the bench near the pen and looked up at Yuri. "Either you're really good with horses, or they sense your kind nature. Belle's never really liked people."

Wolfram moved away from the fence to stand near Belle, but far out of her reach. "I know I wasn't someone she liked. If Conrad hadn't grabbed me, Belle would have kicked my face in that one day."

"Then there would have been all sorts of problems," Amelia said, leaning back and supporting her weight with her hands locked around the front of the bench.

Yuri laughed. "She would have taken away your good looks-"

"More than that, Your Majesty," Amelia interrupted. "A horse has a lot of power behind those legs. She could have very well taken away his life."

Yuri's smile immediately faded, and he stepped towards Wolfram. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean it like that. I hadn't really thought-"

"Don't worry about it, Yuri. Nothing happened. Conrad was there. It's in the past." Wolfram smiled. "I do look back on it with amusement though sometimes."

Amelia frowned. "It's always a horrific moment for me. As glad as I was that Wolfram wasn't hurt, I was concerned for Belle, too." She stood up to run her hand along Belle's jaw. "Even though she acted out of fear, the stable master wanted to have her killed. That's the way it is with animals that don't show the utmost promise, and I expected it."

"I remember," Wolfram said, "you and… Marie snuck her out that night."

Amelia nodded. "Not a fond memory either."

There was a painful drag of silence as Yuri looked back and forth between Wolfram and Amelia. As much as the king wanted to know what had happened with them, he wasn't certain he'd get a straight answer. He had heard that dealing with ex's was a sore subject thanks to some unresolved conflict or the current significant other's jealousy. Yuri had to fall with the former one at this moment since he wasn't jealous but innately curious.

Wolfram spoke first, "But I'm glad you're happy. You _seem_ happy anyway."

"I am, Wolfram. Thank you."

-o-o-

They said their goodbyes when the brunette guard pointed out the time. Yuri promised to be back when he got a moment of time off from his kingly duties, and said he'd send a message ahead. And so, they returned to the carriage, the guard walking behind it with Ao.

"Hey, Wolfram?" Yuri watched the blonde stare out the carriage window, resting his chin in his hand.

"Hmm?" He didn't turn to look at the king but continued to watch the dark buildings pass by.

"Can I ask-"

Wolfram sighed. "You want to know about me and Amelia. Don't you?"

Yuri slowly nodded, carefully moving to sit next to Wolfram rather than across from him in the confines of the burgundy plush carriage. "Yes, I do."

The blonde stopped his gazing long enough to see that Yuri had relocated himself and went back to look out the window. "What do you want to know?" He said with a shrug.

"Anything. Everything." Yuri sat back in the cushioned seat, but his eyes never left Wolfram. "Whatever you're willing to tell me."

Wolfram shifted a little to see Yuri out of the corner of his eyes. "Yuri, what all have you figured out so far?"

"I know that you two had horseback training together, and that you dated since you said she cheated on you, with Marie as I assume. Did you two meet with the horse training?" Yuri put his hands in his laps. "I'm not sure why Amelia would be in the castle in the first place. She has great water maryoku, and yet she lives in the village. What happened there? And what's with the secret knocking?"

Wolfram turned to Yuri and smiled. "Are you asking about Amelia or our relationship?"

Yuri frowned and fiddled with his fingers. "I should ask Amelia about her life, huh?" The king sighed. "Does it bother you, seeing her again?"

"Why would it bother me?" Wolfram went back to watching the passing buildings.

"It's been ten years since you've seen each other, and yet, there's some sort of friction I think. Do you still have feelings for her?"

"No," Wolfram said quietly but without hesitation, "I don't think I ever loved her." Wolfram lowered his eyes and sat back in the seat next to Yuri. "I thought I did, but I don't know. Now that I'm older, I can look back on our relationship to see that we were happy, yet what I felt then for her is nothing compared to what I feel now… for you."

"If you were so happy together, why did she feel the need to cheat on you?" Yuri asked, trying to keep the conversation away from their own relationship. He knew how Wolfram felt, mostly, and he didn't want to have to tell him again that those feelings weren't fully returned.

Wolfram's eyebrows drew together in doubt. "Because I thought I was too good for her." He put his hand up when Yuri opened his mouth. "I was young, a prince, could have anything I wanted. Because I was the Maou's son, I had plenty of people to choose from, but they began to leave as they found out what me being the Maou's son meant. I lied when I said my lovers left because I was too close to my mother. They left because I thought they should be grateful I called them my lover. After Amelia, I realized that I wasn't better than anyone else, that I was probably beneath everyone I had dated in the past.

"I was jealous of Marie, angry that Amelia found someone she thought was more beautiful and deserving of her love. I didn't want to be alone, Yuri. I did something rash, hoping it would bring Amelia back to me, just to prove she was mine-"

"You didn't hurt Marie, did you?" Yuri asked with wide eyes.

Wolfram shook his head as he lifted his eyes to stare at the compartment's ceiling. "There was a regent from another country over, I can't remember which one, but his son, Connor, was infatuated with me, so I let him fill his silly fancies by taking him as a lover. Things didn't turn out too well."

Yuri placed a hand on Wolfram's shoulder. "Why? What happened? And what does he have to do with Amelia?" he asked curiously.

"I used him to get to Amelia." Wolfram lowered his head again.

Yuri frowned and dropped his hand back into his lap. "Is Amelia the reason you're so possessive?"

The blonde sighed. "It's not her fault. But after that, I did see that there were better people out there, so I became desperate to keep them. I made sure their eyes never wandered. Connor was devoted, always faithful, but our relationship had been purely physical for the few weeks he had been there. It was a one-sided love on his part that was more obsessive adoration."

"Have you ever loved anyone, Wolfram? All these past lovers and so far, you've told me you weren't in love with them." The carriage came to a stop, and Yuri turned to look out the window and saw the castle looming above them.

Wolfram sighed as a guard came to the carriage door and held out a hand to let the royalties out into the night. Since Wolfram didn't seem to want to touch on that subject, Yuri stepped out of the carriage and together they walked in silence to make sure Ao was put away in the stables. Yuri told Ao goodnight with a small helping of oats before they returned to the castle to sleep.

-o-o-

Wolfram was still unbearably silent as they changed into sleeping wear in Yuri's room, backs facing one another. That is, until Wolfram asked something he'd never asked before.

"Can I stay with you tonight?"

Yuri turned to Wolfram with a surprised curiosity and blushed slightly as he noticed the blonde's pink night gown falling over his black underwear from behind. Wolfram twisted at the hips to see Yuri standing slightly stunned, half-dressed, and with only one arm in a blue sleeve. The prince meekly smiled at his fiancé's pink face. Perhaps the king had seen something he liked?

Yuri quickly cleared his throat, putting his other arm in a sleeve. "You can stay if you'd like." As if Wolfram needed permission. Yuri buttoned his top and went to his side of the bed, avoiding eye contact with the prince.

Wolfram joined Yuri in the bed, flipping so that his back was facing the king. His mop of blond hair was the only thing visible as he covered himself with the thick comforter. Thank goodness it had been cleaned and replaced the sheets; it had been a little cold last night.

Neither of them fell asleep immediately. Yuri was anxious to talk to Wolfram, their conversation having been cut off earlier. Besides, he had yet to hear Wolfram's snoring, so he knew the blonde was still awake, too.

"What are you thinking about?" Yuri asked as he propped his head up with his elbow.

"Kuno."

"Kuno?"

"You had asked if I ever loved anyone. Five years ago, I fell in love with Kuno, one of my personal body guards," Wolfram said. "He was of a much lower rank, so our relationship was very secret. It was nice, for awhile, but after Kuno, I stopped appointing guards that I thought I could become attached to."

Yuri sat up, suddenly interested. "Who all knew?"

Wolfram stayed facing away from Yuri and sighed. "I told Mother about him, and Gwendal knew a little bit about it. Everyone ended up finding out anyway."

"How so?"

Wolfram breathed in heavily, silent for a moment before he spoke. "They found out when I emotionally reacted to his death. He caught pneumonia on one of our border patrols and died a few days later. I was really out of it for the next few months, but my family tried to help me recuperate. Mostly my mother trying to throw possible partners at me, but I haven't dated since. My heart was never in it."

Yuri quietly gasped. "I'm sorry, Wolfram."

"There's nothing you could have done, especially since you weren't there, so you don't need to apologize." Wolfram buried his face under the blanket.

"I'm still sorry." Yuri slowly reached out a hand to pull the cover away from Wolfram's head and slid closer to him. "I can't say I've experienced the loss of a loved one, but I know it's not a good feeling." He ran his fingers over Wolfram's hair, tucking the strands behind his ear in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

Wolfram shifted, pulling the blanket up so he could slowly maneuver to face Yuri. He settled the blanket around himself again and promptly buried his face in Yuri's shoulder. "Just promise. Promise me…" Yuri stiffened at the contact at first, drawing his lower body away from Wolfram just enough to avoid completely touching. Wolfram fisted his hands in Yuri's shirt. "Please, Yuri."

Yuri found he couldn't really use his right arm so he put it under his cheek and rested the bottom of his chin against Wolfram's head. He continued running his fingers through Wolfram's hair, waiting for the tears that never came. "I promise, Wolfram." Even though he wasn't sure exactly what he was promising.

And he fell asleep that way, curled around Wolfram as the blonde too fell asleep nestled against Yuri's chest.

-o-o-

End chapter 14.

I hope you guys are okay with that portrayal of Wolfram in the past. It just came to me while I was going over this scene, so I had to rewrite and save other stuff for later.

Another name from behindthenamedotcom! I looked up a masculine name for "lover" and Connor was one of them. Sure it was Irish/English, but once I saw that it derived from a word that meant "dog lover" or "_**wolf**_ lover", I just had to snatch it up. I don't care that it's eerily close to Conrad… Oh, and Kuno derives from the Germanic _kuoni _which means "brave". Man, I love that site.

And Oh my God. I spelled pneumonia right on the first try! Sorry, I had to share.

Oh, and would you guys like the Earth date next, or would you like to see Marie and Amelia again, so Yuri can prod them for gay couple information/already anticipating what the answer will be/

Read and review, please!


	15. Priorities

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping: Okay, so I'm dumb… Japan's schools start in April, if I looked it up right. Which is about where my story's timeframe is? Blah. Okay, back up to like end of February or something. And as I was writing this chapter, I realized just how screwed up the time is! I'm so confused! Oh, I got it/makes plans/

And I almost forgot to thank my beta's! Thanks for checking on this chapter for me, Munch007 and Hayabusa (or should I call you Liverpool-GK-Eagle?). If I sent you stuff to beta and you haven't gotten back to me yet, that's fine. I can still use the corrections/suggestions to fix up stuff and for other places that I post this story.

pikeebo – Yeah, I figured Japan isn't too anti-gay. Yuri's just sort of negative towards the engagement with Wolfram in the series, so he has to have had some outside influence that makes him think that it's wrong or something. I know it's not from his mother. /makes a squinty face/ I just did a lesbian couple since there are hordes of gay guys (or not /cough/) in the series… Besides, I need to find someone straight so it's not some huge gay fest. /sweat/

Yuuram88 – Wolfram's love life is like his mother's/goes to rewatch the show/ Really? Isn't that ironic? Has her looks, too. Creepy.

MSYOU – Fangirl mode, eh/squeals/ And to think I almost didn't put that scene in…

Enjeru – Thank you for your review. Your name makes me think of angels. I'm glad there's no problem with the lesbians; if you like male gay couples, I don't really see why it's fair to discriminate female gay couples. Love is love, ne?

-o-o-

**Chapter 15: Priorities**

Yuri opened his eyes to the morning, yawing as he stretched his arms. He turned to Wolfram's side of the bed only to find that Wolfram wasn't there. He sighed to himself, frowning in slight disappointment. Yuri had wanted to talk about last night. There was a lot to take in that Wolfram had revealed to him, and he felt guilty for taking advantage of Wolfram's promise to be open with him.

He sat up and threw off the covers, wondering if he had accidentally slept in. It was a new week, more days of studying and being a King. Yuri decided to change in a hurry so he wouldn't miss out on breakfast; that is, if he hadn't slept through it already.

The door opened, and Yuri turned to snap at the person that they should have knocked. Wolfram stepped into the room, dressed in his uniform blues for the day, and his retort died in his throat. Yuri tossed his pajama top onto his bed, reaching for his white undershirt laying on the edge of the bed with his school-like uniform. "Glad to see I didn't scare you off."

Wolfram shut the door behind him, a confused look crossing his face. "What did you do to scare me off?"

"About last night…" Yuri buttoned up the white undershirt, tugging the collar up around his neck. "I know you don't want to keep any secrets from me, but if you feel uncomfortable talking about some things, you can tell me to stop pestering you for information, especially… about your past."

"Oh," Wolfram crossed the room to stand beside Yuri, "I'm really glad you want to know who I am, Yuri. And I don't want to keep anything from you. But maybe, I'm revealing my past a little too quickly…"

"What do you mean?" Yuri turned to Wolfram, changing into his uniform temporarily forgotten.

Wolfram lowered his head, the folds in Yuri's shirt suddenly very interesting. "Something the Maou said last night…"

"The Maou?" Yuri's eyes widened, and he grabbed Wolfram by the shoulders causing the blonde to snap his head up. "He appeared last night? What happened? I don't remember anything threatening that would cause me to use my maryoku."

"Yuri, relax." Wolfram forced a smile. "Nothing bad happened last night. I guess you changed sometime while you were sleeping. He woke me up, and we ta-"

"He's taking over my body now?!" Yuri threw his arms up in the air. "Before, he was just something that came out for the maryoku… I still don't understand exactly what it is that happens to me. He can just appear now, no reason needed? Wolfram, did he do anything?"

Wolfram tried to stop Yuri whom was frantically biting at his nails from pacing around. "No, Yuri. I said to relax before, didn't I?"

"Wait. He spoke to you." Yuri stopped his pacing enough to grab Wolfram again. "What did he say?"

"He didn't say much last night." Wolfram sat down on the edge of the bed as Yuri let him go. "He thought that I may be going too fast for us. And that I may have given you the wrong impression about Kuno."

"What?!" Yuri sat down hard next to Wolfram, pushing his clothes aside. "He's giving relationship advice now? What does the Maou care about us? That's all you talked about? I just don't get it… What does he want?"

"The Maou's worried. It's sort of his body, too, and he's fully aware of what you do."

Yuri stared at Wolfram, a strange look passing over his features. "And why am I not aware of what _he _does? Why do you know something like that?"

Wolfram averted his eyes. "He told me once."

"He _told_ you? Once?" Yuri shot off of the bed, starting to pace again. "He's talked to you before? Why haven't you told me about this? What else has he said? Wolfram-"

"Yuri!" Wolfram grabbed Yuri's wrist, tugging him back to the bed. "I didn't come in here this morning to talk to you about the Maou! I only know what he's told me, and it's very little. I've seen him three times, all of them after you had fallen asleep. If he randomly appears again, I'll be sure to let you know if he says anything particularly important. I thought you knew he had come out, so I didn't bother mentioning it."

Wolfram cleared his throat. "But what I was _originally_ trying to get at… I don't want you to think that I'm still in love with Kuno. I mean, it's not that I've completely forgotten about him. Um, he still has a place in my heart along with a lot of people in my past. Not that I've loved a lot of people, but-" Wolfram lightly blushed, stopping before he started stuttering something that lacked some sort of grammar.

"You think I doubt your feelings?" Yuri laughed. "I thought it was my feelings under questioning here. Look, I'm not worried about that now. Your talk of the Maou has me bothered."

Wolfram glared at Yuri. "Because clearly the Maou is so much more important than our relationship."

Yuri put his hands up defensively. "He's taking over my body! I have plenty of reasons to be concerned about that. I don't know who he is or what he does. He-"

"He's you," Wolfram said.

"Me?"

Wolfram nodded. "When he first appeared, I freaked out and tried to run away. He's damn strong and held me down. He tried to convince me not to leave by telling me that he was you. You two are one in the same. The Maou didn't explain it to me, instead he turned back into you. So yeah, it was a short visit."

"So… you believed him?" Yuri questioned. "And he didn't bother to explain the other times he came?"

"No."

Yuri sighed and fell back onto the bed. "Just when I thought things couldn't get more complicated." He turned his head to look at Wolfram's blond hair. "You think he'll come again?"

Wolfram laid down next to Yuri, putting his hands under the back of his head. "I don't see why he wouldn't. I'll, uh, let you know what he says if he appears again."

"Thanks." Yuri cleared his throat. "Now can you please leave so I can change before I miss breakfast?"

-o-o-

The week dragged on for Yuri as he returned to his kingly duties. Why on earth did people want to be royalty so bad? There was too much work, especially concerning things you have no knowledge of, too many people following you around, and not to mention the huge buildings to dwell in where one could easily get lost. Oh right, they wanted the power that came with being a king, the power to change and make laws, bending the country to his or her will. Maybe it was the riches or the elaborate foods. Yuri hardly had the time to enjoy the few things he had bought himself, but he did have to admit the food was divine.

So why the hell was he staying there? If he thought the job was too hard, why didn't he just go back home and try to live the life of a normal teenager, finish high school, and maybe go to college?

He had family here. That was as good a reason as any to warrant staying. Yuri had come to love and cherish the people around him in Shin Makoku. He did want to take care of his people, to do them some good that past rulers seemed to fail at.

Conrad had even set up a baseball team so that Yuri could have something he loved from his Earth home. And he had a daughter to think about. And a fiancé…

-o-o-

"I'm going to Earth for a little while," Yuri announced as he finished up his paperwork.

Gwendal inspected the last paper. "You just agreed to let Anissina use you as a guinea pig."

"What?" Yuri took the paper back and quickly scribbled over his signature, resigning on the 'denied' line. "That was a close one. Why are people sneaking in requests like that?"

"Because we know you're not always paying attention." Gwendal placed the paper in the 'no' pile and grinned. "You also signed a request from me for a vacation."

Yuri snorted. "Really? You're all just using me."

Conrad stepped forward to take one of the piles for the verification process. "It seems like you're going to be taking a vacation of your own, Your Majesty."

"No, not really." Yuri sighed and slouched in his tall chair. "I have exams coming up and as much studying that I'm doing here, not enough time is passing on Earth… I just want it to be over with."

"But Earth's time seems to be catching up with our own," Conrad stated.

Yuri nodded and cracked his neck. "Yeah. I guess that's just one more thing that Shinou controlled. Without him around, Earth is only a few months short of Shin Makoku's. I'm missing a lot of school though…"

Gwendal grabbed the other stack of papers, turning towards the door. "You'll just have to figure out your priorities, Your Majesty."

"Yeah," Yuri sighed.

-o-o-

Yuri poked around Shinou's temple, looking for Ken. The shrine maidens seemed to keep pointing in different directions, claiming they had seen him there earlier this morning or over there just a few minutes ago. He stopped asking.

"I heard you've been looking for me," Ken appeared in front of Yuri as the king sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"Oh, Murata." Yuri stood up and smiled. "Yeah, I was. I was planning on heading back to Earth to go to school for a little bit."

Ken stuck out his tongue. "Why would you want to go to school?"

Yuri shrugged. "I have to at least finish this year."

"You do realize that now that Earth and Shin Makoku have the same momentum of time, you'll have a hard time living a life in both." Ken grinned and guided Yuri away from the fountain. "I'm just going to stay here and visit my parents from time to time. Although, I do have less responsibility than you, so I can enjoy it more."

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Earth is my home. My mother…" Yuri shook his head. "It's so complicated, isn't it?"

Ken sat down on a stone bench, patting the spot next to him for Yuri to sit. "Then you and Wolfram aren't getting serious?"

Yuri sat next to Ken. "What?"

"Not that it's really any of my business, but there's been rumors flying all over the place about you two." Ken waved at a passing maiden and turned back to Yuri. "I'm curious where the threesome came from, but I at least gather there was a date."

Yuri nodded, watching a bird clean itself in a small puddle near them. "Yeah, we had a date. The whole weekend was practically one big date."

"So why did you leave the village anyway?" Ken asked.

Yuri slightly blushed. "I wanted us to be alone. There are too many eyes at the castle."

"So it _did_ get serious. I thought you'd never get laid at this rate, Shibuya." Ken laughed.

"No! We didn't do_that_!" Yuri jumped up, startling the bird in the puddle to fly into a tree and disappear behind the leaves.

Ken titled his head. "You were alone and didn't do anything?"

Yuri's blush deepened. "We kissed. I swear, that's all we did."

Ken stood up next to Yuri and slapped him on the back. "It's about time, Shibuya. Was it good…?"

Yuri didn't think his face could get any redder. "That's- Have _you_ kissed anyone, Murata?" He asked quickly, trying to divert the conversation.

Ken raised an eyebrow at Yuri. "You're joking right?"

"You have? Who?" Yuri's face returned to its tan color as he excitedly waited for his friend's answer.

"Are you wanting to know about me, as Murata, or as the Great Sage and all my past incarnations?" Ken's eyes seemed to sparkle behind his round glasses.

Yuri raised his hand to cover his gaping mouth. "Then you could have done all sorts of things?! Wow, that doesn't weird you out or anything?"

Ken shrugged. "It's much needed experience. Japanese girls didn't really dig my nerdiness. The shrine maidens, though… they go nuts."

"You didn't!" Yuri scoffed.

"Not from a lack of trying though." Ken laughed. "A few of them practically threw themselves at me. But I'm a respectable man, and as shrine maidens they've taken a vow of celibacy. I wasn't about to let them break that. When Shinou left, it just got worse."

"It must be hard staying in a place full of needy virgins."

Ken sat back down on the bench and laughed. "Only when they try to jump my bones. Ulrike keeps me company now that Shinou isn't around to talk to…" His eyes darken with grief.

Yuri sat with Ken again and frowned. "I don't want this to sound weird or anything, but, um, did the Great Sage and, uh, Shinou ever, you know…"

"Have sex?" Ken bluntly asked.

"Well, I wasn't really trying to go that far with it. It just seems like the Great Sage was really faithful to Shinou. I mean, he kept reincarnating himself to help the king, waiting four thousand years…" Yuri stood up to leave. "I'm sorry, that's even less of my business. I'll, uh-"

"Having the soul of someone that's in love with a dead man is really problematic." Ken sighed and stood up to face Yuri. "My love life is all screwed up in every incarnation. I can't count the number of women they've slept with, but… there's only one man in our heart."

"Wow. The Great Sage was really dedicated. I just hope his feelings were returned."

Ken put his arm around Yuri's shoulder as they walked together. "It's better late than never. Oh, and did you still have plans for an Earth date with Wolfram?"

"We just went on a date last weekend. But yes, I am. It's one of the reasons I'm going to Earth." Yuri nodded. "I didn't want to just show up one day with Wolfram and expect my mom to have everything set up. I think she had some things in mind, although… I should probably be worried about what she wants to do."

Ken smiled. "It didn't sound too bad when she told me. She does need to narrow some things down, so she'll want more information about Wolfram when you go."

-o-o-

What? We don't get to see what happened with the Maou/sweats/ Well, uh, we have to wait until Yuri finds out what happens when the Maou appears. So you'll have to be patient. Again.

Crap! I'm in the middle of writing this chapter and watching KKM, the episode where Yuri and Gwendal meet Nicola… and missed the friekin' ring! She takes it off her left ring finger and gives it to the kid, Jilta, to sell for food. But none of us are paying that much attention to the show. That's what I get for trying to figure out whether or not Yuri's undershirt buttons up and getting caught up in the show instead. XP

Oh, and/still kicks Shinou in the face/ You prankster! But now that I've seen OVA 3 subbed, I'm a little sad too. A fearful future… Yuri seemed to see the present if all he said was "You actually liked me…" There was more to what you saw, Yuri, goshdarnit/goes to watch it again anyway/ Oh! About the public shows of affection (or lack thereof): I totally knew it! It was something I was going to bring up within the next few chapters anyway. /gives herself a thumbs up/ Knowing what people are saying also tells me that the sunrises apparently have a gold color (Wolfram, you're colorblind! That was totally green!)…


	16. Something Wolfram Would Like

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping: Sorry about all my ranting in the last chapter. I kept remembering things and wanting to let you guys know for some reason.

I got quite a bit of info for the OVA 3 since the translation of what Yuri actually said has been up in the air. Obviously, he was cut off for one. I remember hearing 'otoko' at the end of Yuri's statement while I was watching the raw version and recognized it as 'man'. Either way I go though, it's still not working for me as a fangirl. Either he saw that Wolfram is a guy (this being the 'otoko') that likes him (which is already the case) and maybe there was more to what happened, but that would mean Yuri's not happy with this arrangement. Otherwise, Wolfram could be with another man (or this being the 'otoko') or something to that effect, which means that Wolfram would have a good future with someone else/makes shocked faces/ And this is why I'm ignoring the OVA for my fanfic. I'm going to be in all sorts of trouble though when the 3rd season comes out in April… /swoons/

Thank you for beta'ing this chapter, Kiri! Since I'm almost done with the next chapter /makes a gasp face/ I decided to put this one out so I can continue to concentrate on chapter 17.

And now that you've gotten this far… just go on to Chapter 17 (according to FFdotnet) since I royally screwed up.

-o-o-

**Chapter 16: Something Wolfram Would Like**

Yeah, go, go! There's nothing here!


	17. Something Wolfram Would Like v2

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping:** OMGosh! I made a fatal mistake!** I'm double-posting chapter 16 since "technically" no one can review it... I decided to finally delete the KKM Dream thing and thus it bumped everything down a chapter. I'm sorry! I want to fix it, but then it's going to take away all my hits it seems...

-o-o-

**Chapter 16: Something Wolfram Would Like**

School sucked, too. Yuri moaned as he looked through all the extra work the teachers had given him since he was absent. He wasn't going to even be able to carry all of this home!

"Shibuya!" Ken leaned on Yuri's desk and looked down at his fellow double-black.

Yuri looked up from his position sprawled out on the desk. "Hi, Murata."

"You got a lot of homework, too?" Ken asked. "And you were the one that wanted to come back to school…"

Yuri moaned again. "All right! So this was a bad idea. But think about how much _more_ we would have if we came back later." Yuri looked at Ken with squinted eyes. "Where's all of your stuff?"

"Oh." Ken patted his backpack that he had thrown on the desk beside Yuri. "I stuffed what I could in here, and the rest is in my locker."

"That makes sense." Yuri stood up from his seat warily and bent down to pick up the large stack of papers from the floor. "Wanna help me get these down to my locker?"

-o-o-

Yuri shoved the last of the papers into his backpack as Ken tried to cram the rest in his locker. "I think you ended up with more work than I did," Ken laughed.

"I'll probably get a few days leeway if I take some with me to Shin Makoku…" Yuri zipped up his engorged backpack and hefted it onto his back. He had to slouch forward to support its weight without toppling over. "Man, how am I supposed to ride my bike home like this?"

"Very carefully?" Ken suggested.

Yuri gave Ken a cross look. "Your backpack isn't any lighter."

Ken shrugged and joined Yuri in walking towards the bike rack with his body hunched over. They unlocked their bicycles, and Ken strapped his backpack into the wire basket behind his seat. The basket in front of the handles on Yuri's bike wasn't wide enough to fit the huge backpack, so he had to awkwardly throw it in crooked.

The two black-haired boys left school on their bikes, Yuri having to do double work to make sure his large backpack didn't fall out of the tiny basket. Ken circled around Yuri every now and again, laughing as Yuri yelled at him to knock it off.

"So, Shibuya. When do you plan on going back?" Ken asked as he maneuvered his bike to ride beside Yuri again.

"Probably Sunday morning." Yuri almost missed the turn that Ken suddenly made and had to peddle a little harder to catch up to him. "Why? Do want to leave at a different time?"

Ken shook his head. "No, Sunday is fine. We only have to deal with school for one more day. Although, all my free time is going to be taken up with schoolwork. Mom's going to hate me for not spending time with her."

"Mom's making me go shopping with Shori for a gift for Wolfram. So I'll being doing homework until he gets off of work." Yuri sighed.

"Is Wolfram mad that you came home?"

Yuri turned a corner, putting a hand out to steady his backpack. "Surprisingly, he understood. He wasn't screaming about it or anything, just told me to come back soon."

"Aww," Ken grinned. "No goodbye-kiss?"

"No," Yuri said with pink cheeks. "Is that all you ever think about?"

"Can you blame me?" Ken stopped his bike at another corner. "I have to prod you about your love life since mine's nonexistent." He put up his hand when Yuri stopped next him and gave him a dejected look. "But don't feel sorry for me. I have a feeling I'll get what I want in the end."

Yuri balanced himself with his leg on the ground. "What do you want?"

"That would be telling, and I'm not going to jinx it so that I can appease your curiosity." Ken shook a finger at him. "But this is where we part for tonight." He waved as he rode off to the left. "Good luck finding a gift!"

Yuri waved back and continued forward, looking both ways before he crossed the street.

-o-o-

Yuri dragged through all of his homework, anxiously awaiting Shori's arrival just so he was free from that crap. He knew he'd have work to do when he came home, but he had no idea it was going to be so much worse than the things he had to do as a king. Not that being a student was more difficult than being a king, but all of it piled on like this… oh God. He'd just made more work for himself in Shin Makoku as well. Yuri sighed. He was never going to get a break, was he?

"Yu-chan!" his mother called from downstairs.

Not wanting to read another math equation, Yuri jumped up from his chair and threw open the door. "Shori here?" he yelled back down.

His mother's voice drifted up the stairs again. "He's on his way, so go wash up, dear!"

Yuri didn't waste a moment rushing to the bathroom and washing his face, hands, and teeth. He didn't need a bath yet, so that cleaning was plenty. He threw on the most random things he could find, a pair of jeans, a yellow shirt with stars, and a black jacket for the cooler weather; he'd grab his sneakers when he left. Yuri bounded back downstairs, eager to flee his homework and waited at the couch.

"In a hurry, Yu-chan?" Jennifer poked her head out from the kitchen, a splash of soap bubbles on her cheek. "It'll be at least another fifteen minutes." She smiled at her son. "Come, help me do the dishes."

Yuri quietly groaned but consented to his mother's request and joined her in the kitchen. Jennifer handed Yuri a wet plate when he stopped to stand next to her. "You can use the towel there. And put the dishes where they go when you've got them dry enough."

Yuri sighed. "It's not like I haven't done this before, Mother."

"Yes, but it's been awhile since you've done chores around the house." Jennifer reached into the soapy water and pulled out a fork, scrubbing it. "You don't have any housework, or perhaps castlework, as King, do you?"

"I haven't really had to clean up after myself." Yuri towel-dried the plate in his hands and walked over to the cabinet to put it away. "I try to out of habit sometimes."

Jennifer gave Yuri the fork and reached in for another one. "So you have it easy in Shin Makoku, Yu-chan?"

"Oh, God, no," Yuri said, putting away the fork too. "If I'm not signing away my life, I'm studying its history, practicing fighting and sword techniques, seeing to the well-being of my people… I barely have free-time to enjoy the fact that everyone cleans up for me." He took the second fork his mother handed over and quickly pinched it in the towel. "Everyone's always doing something at the castle."

Jennifer smiled at Yuri and placed a few more random dishes in the soapy water to soak. "Then you don't have much time to make new friends, do you?"

Yuri blushed and leaned back on the counter. "I actually did get to meet someone new. An old girlfriend of Wolfram's."

Jennifer gasped. "Did you have to battle her to win Wol-chan's affections?"

"No, it was nothing like that." Yuri laughed at his mother's eager face. "She's married now. Besides, neither Wolfram nor I seemed to be her type since she has a wife." He stopped there to gauge his mother's reaction.

She clapped her hands together. "I just love Shin Makoku. They have no problems with love. One can marry as they wish. Oh, Yu-chan, it's all so romantic."

"Not everyone can get married," Yuri stated.

"Really? Why not?" Jennifer frowned.

"Some countries are still fighting each other, and human and mazoku relationships are illegal."

Jennifer grabbed a knife from the water and waved it at him. "But you're working on that, as King."

Yuri laughed. "Yeah, I'm working on it."

"Your father and I have a prohibited relationship." Jennifer swooned. "Oo, how dangerous. Speaking of marriage-"

"No!" Yuri held his hands up high. "We are not going to discuss that."

"But Yu-chan…"

"No but's, Mom." Yuri pushed himself away from the counter. "I don't want to talk about stuff that I'm still… confused about. I… don't want to get anyone's hopes up."

"Aw," Jennifer giggled. "The only way you could get my hopes up is if you told me that you two could have babies." She paused. "Or can you in Shin Makoku?"

Yuri blanched. "What?! No! Two men can't have children! That's completely irrational, Mother!"

Jennifer went back to scrubbing dishes. "But Shin Makoku is such a magical place. It could be possible. Maybe that's why it's not so uncommon for gay marriages! Just think about it, Yu-chan! Little baby Wol-chans and Yu-chans…" She squealed giddily.

"I am not going to think about it, Mother! Unless Shin Makoku men are built differently than men on Earth, there's no way!"

"Maybe they don't have to have sex to bear children?" Jennifer offered.

"That's ridiculous, too!" Yuri yelled, his face red. "Animals reproduce by having sex-"

"What if it was like a fish?" Jennifer asked. "You know, where they lay eggs and the male comes by and-"

"Oh my God! We are not having this conversation, Mom. You can't seriously think that a humanlike, uh, species, has babies like a fish."

Jennifer smiled broadly. "Have you been told otherwise?"

"Uh… no?" Yuri's face turned white again. "I'll ask someone, just for the sake of knowing whether or not Shin Makoku men can reproduce like fish. That's such a weird thought, Mom. I hope for sanity's sake it isn't true."

"What's not true?" Shori asked as he suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

"My Savior!" Yuri launched himself towards Shori and ran to the door. "Let's go, let's go!"

Shori yelled at Yuri as his younger brother threw on his shoes. "I can't say hi to Mom first?"

"Just hurry!"

-o-o-

Yuri found himself at a small shopping mall, peering inside the stores' windows with little interest.

Shori stood beside him and looked at the necklace Yuri was eyeballing with confusion. "You do realize you're buying for Wolfram, right?"

"Yeah…" Yuri walked away from the glass and wandered to the next store, stopping to stare at the baseball set on sale.

Shori cleared his throat. "Again, you're buying for Wolfram, right?"

"I know!" Yuri sighed and went to sit on a bench. "This would be so much easier if I were shopping for a girl."

Shori sat next to him, watching some of the random people walk by. "What does Wolfram like?"

Yuri shrugged and lay back heavily on the bench's back. "Besides me? Swords – too expensive. Fire? – Um, no. Painting – God help me if I'm going to support that hobby."

"Wolfram not any good at painting?" Shori asked.

"I'm no artist, but his stuff looks like something a really creative kindergartener would do. You would think that he'd use those eighty-some-odd years he's been living to perfect some sort of talent." Yuri watched a couple walk by, the female stopping her male companion suddenly. The girl pointed at the necklace Yuri had spotted earlier with a large smile on her face. The boy then promised that he'd save up for it, possibly even get her something more beautiful. Yuri gestured at the couple as they stood in front of the window. "See? I knew a girl would like that. Why's it so damn hard to shop for Wolfram?"

Shori watched the couple as well, noticing the rather expensive outfit the girl was already wearing. "I think she's got him wrapped around her finger, Yuri. You start getting them expensive things, and they start to expect more expensive things. Things your wallet just can't handle." He turned back to Yuri, suddenly curious. "Where'd you get the money to spend on Wolfram, anyway?"

"Mom actually gave me some money. She told me to bring her something pretty from Shin Makoku in return." Yuri leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. "I felt bad about it at first, but she insisted."

"Then you'd better make this worth it," Shori said. He grinned. "Maybe we should go find a gay couple and ask them what they buy each other."

"What?" Yuri suspiciously looked around. "No, that's embarrassing. I refuse."

"You could ask a girl what _she_ gets her boyfriend."

Yuri shook his head. "Girls don't get guys stuff, do they? I always figured it was the guy buying presents."

Shori raised a suggestive eyebrow at his younger brother. "So you're the guy in the relationship?"

Yuri jumped up from the bench, face red. "Thatsnoneofyourbusiness!" He stalked off towards the food court. "I'll figure out something on my own!"

Shori jogged after him, slowing as he quickly caught up with Yuri. "I was joking, little brother. Look, if you can't think of something that Wolfram likes, you're best bet is to just buy him something that reminds you of him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuri looked at Shori as they walked with confused eyes.

"Simple, you look around, and if you see something and think of him, then you get him that. It can't be something that you want though." Shori yanked on Yuri's arm to stop him in front of another window. "Okay, look at these and tell me if there's anything that reminds you of Wolfram."

Yuri looked up at the mannequins on display wearing lacey negligee, mostly in the bra and panties form, and groaned. "No! This is female stuff! Wolfram would never wear something like this… and I certainly as hell wouldn't want to see him in it." Yuri huffed and threw his head to the side. "Next please! Oh, wait…" He spotted a nightgown at the end of the display and went to stand in front of it. Yuri noticed with displeasure that he found himself comparing it to the one Wolfram wore. It was a very soft pink with long sleeves and only one small bow at the V-neck. He was lucky Wolfram didn't wear anything this revealing, the material was thin and practically see-through. "Wolfram needs a pair of male pajamas."

"Really?" Shori gasped. "I showed you these to make a point that they shouldn't remind you of Wolfram. But he really wears something like this?"

Yuri hung his head. "It's a pink nightgown. I really wish he wouldn't wear it…"

Shori grabbed Yuri's wrist and tugged him forward. "Then let's just stick with the jewelry store if that's the case. You might find something Wolfram likes if he's girly enough to wear a woman's nightgown."

-o-o-

End of chapter 16.

Yay, another chapter done! And no Wolfram in it/gasps/ I figure there'll be a little bit more stuff on Earth (not much) and then we can get back to Shin Makoku and all that good stuff.

And I have a poll for you guys! In this chapter I brought up the infamous issue of the Mpreg. I, personally, am not a fan of it unless it can be explained away somehow. Not that anything is going to happen in this story (in the sequel, perhaps, if I can get that far), but I'm doing it for the sake of knowing what my readers/fans of KKM would be okay with. I've made the poll a blind poll so that you can't be swayed by whatever is or isn't winning. I have a lot of ideas for it: one that I originally started with and then a new one that's really grown on me. So, if you're unsure of maybe what I meant by it, please don't be afraid to PM/email me with any questions before you make your final decision. The highest vote is most likely what I'm going to go with since I want to make you guys happy. But it's not a guarantee. So go to my profile and check it out! You'll see it up there at the top...

Read and review, please!


	18. More Time on Earth

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping: Over 200 reviews!

yaoigypsie – Nah, I wanted to stay with the humor of KKM, since that's a reason I like it so much. Nothing depressing in my story as of yet, and really, I don't think I have any planned. There's conflict, of course, just nothing horribly sad (like the cheating and/or deaths). Wolfram_is_ a little forward in my fanfic, as Yuri is also a little more willing than he would normally be. If I kept entirely true to their characters, I really don't think they'd get much of anywhere or they would have taken like three times as long before they do stuff. Plus, now that Yuri's willing to try in a relationship, Wolfram doesn't have to hold back as much. /smiles/

DarkestFlameUchiha – Thanks for all your reviews! You're the first to comment about my A/N at the bottom of chapter 6. /is amused/ I originally didn't mention that it was food. Something spongy and warm went in his mouth… or something to that effect, and I made a weird face at it, trying to figure out how to explain the difference in "textures", 'cause _that_ could be sort of spongy/sweat/ As for the Mpreg being illogical unless the character is inhabited by a demon… Mazoku _are _demons. /sweats again/ But I've got my reasons for not liking it.

-o-o-

**Chapter 17: More Time on Earth**

"Shori." Yuri tried to pull his arm back as his older brother dragged him towards the jewelry store a few shops down. "Shori, stop. I'm not going to find anything for Wolfram in a jewelry store."

Shori stopped, Yuri's wrist still in his grasp, and turned around to look down at Yuri. "Just humor me." He let go of his brother's wrist and moved to stand behind him as he pushed Yuri forward. "You might be surprised, little brother."

"Fine, I'll look, but I can't promise you I'll find anything." Yuri looked back at Shori. "I don't think I'll have the money to buy something in there anyway."

Shori smirked as they stopped in front of the store. "Don't worry about the price. Whatever it is you want, I'll take care of it."

"How?" Yuri asked, furrowing his brows.

"I have my ways…" Shori ushered Yuri into the shop and went straight to a saleslady. Yuri was too far away to hear what Shori said to the young lady, but she nodded and pointed to a man in a suit on the other side of the room. Shori flashed her a smile which she returned. "Go, look around," he said as he passed Yuri to reach the man. "I'll be with you in just a sec."

Yuri walked to the closest glass counter and squinted at all the glittering jewelry. He nearly choked at the set of earrings that were nearly 300.000 yen. Shori was nuts to think he could afford something from here. Besides, his mother had only given him 10.000 yen, which is more than he thought he needed, but apparently not if he was searching through jewelry.

Yuri sighed and moved onto another counter, stopping to peer into the glass again.

"Finding anything of interest, sir?" The lady at the counter, the one whom Shori had spoken with, appeared before Yuri and smiled down at him.

Yuri shrugged. "I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in the first place. You have anything for a guy," Yuri looked at her nametag, "Keiko-san?"

Keiko smiled again and directed Yuri to a display of watches. "Watches are very common to buy for a male. Are you self-shopping? Or are you looking for someone else?"

"It's a little complicated." Yuri scratched the back of his head. "But yeah, it's for a friend."

"What type of jewelry does your friend like to wear, sir?" Keiko asked.

Yuri shrugged again. "I've never seen him wear jewelry."

Keiko nodded. "Then that is a bit complicated."

Yuri gave her an edgy laugh and looked at one of the diamond-studded watches. "I think he's, uh, a little too old-worldly to like a watch. I don't think his ears are pierced. Um, he wears long sleeves most of the time, so I'm not sure a bracelet would work either." Yuri sighed loudly. "His neck is covered, too. A frilly sort of cloth-thing."

"A frilly cloth-thing, sir?" Keiko put up a finger and told him to hold on for one moment. She left and returned with a piece of paper and a pen. "Could you draw it from memory?"

"Uh, sure?" Yuri took the pen and doodled the best he could, explaining when he was done that it folded in certain areas, but he just couldn't draw that.

Keiko studied the sketch for a moment and looked back up at Yuri. "Your friend is indeed old-worldly." She smiled. "You're saying a necklace wouldn't work for him either in this case?"

Yuri nodded.

"This does narrow down your search." Keiko leaned on the counter, feeling a little bit more casual with her awkward customer. "Rings are quite common, too. Although, I don't think I've seen them given from one male friend to another, unless… Oh, excuse me, that's prying, I'm sorry."

Yuri shook his head and leaned on the counter with her. "I think the ring will say _too_much. I've already given that a definite no."

"I see." Keiko walked behind the counter to another off to the side, Yuri following. "If your friend is old-worldly as you say, I think something from here would do."

Shori walked up behind Yuri and placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Find anything, yet?"

Yuri was about to shake his head when a flash of green caught his eye. "Can I see that please?" he asked Keiko, pointing into the glass counter.

Keiko nodded, following his finger towards the corner of the jewelry case and reached in to pull out the item Yuri wanted to examine.

Shori eyeballed it and nodded at Yuri. "Perfect."

"Really?" Yuri frowned. "But the price…"

"I told you not to worry about it, didn't I?" Shori smiled at Keiko.

-o-o-

"What did you get? What did you get?" Jennifer hopped around her youngest son as he tried to pull out a velvet encased box from the jewelry store's paper bag. She took the box, feeling its weight and feeling the softness.

Yuri silently awaited his mother's approval as she slowly opened the box. Jennifer gave a girly squeal of delight and fiercely hugged Yuri, careful not to overturn the box. "Yu-chan! It's so beautiful!" She let him go long enough to take another look at it and squeezed him again. "You did Momma proud!"

Yuri patted his mother on the back and looked up at Shori with a red face. Shori couldn't tell if the redness was from suffocation or embarrassment – probably both. Jennifer gave the velvet box one last wistful glance and gently closed it to return it to Yuri.

"Is dinner ready, Momma?" Shori asked as he walked towards the dining area.

"Just a little longer," Jennifer replied. "Papa will be home soon. Oh, Sho-chan and Yu-chan, you can help me set the table." The brunette woman skipped off into the kitchen, humming a little tune.

-o-o-

Shoma Shibuya, head of the household, arrived just in time for dinner, not too early and not too late, much to the pleasure of his wife. "It's been awhile since we've all had a chance to eat together like this," Shoma commented as he spooned a scoop of his wife's "famous" curry.

"Ah," Yuri nodded in agreement. "Murata said that Shinou had control over our time difference. It's out of our hands now. So my visits will get further apart…"

Jennifer made a sad face at her son. "You don't want to come see your family, Yu-chan?"

"No, it's not that…" Yuri put his spoon down and lowered his head. "I don't know what to do, Mom. Things are really mixed up right now, what with the two worlds sort of catching up with one another. If I'm not concentrating on King stuff in Shin Makoku, then I'm studying here on Earth. I'm not even sure if I can live in both worlds now." Yuri sighed. "I just…"

"It's okay, son." Shoma smiled at Yuri. "You've got a lot of responsibility on your shoulders now. Even Shori's juggling things right now, aren't you, Sho-chan?"

Shori nodded as he swallowed his food. "Bob's left most of my training as Earth Maou up to me figuring things out on my own. I just started college, and I'm almost convinced that I'm not cut out for it."

"Don't quit, Sho-chan. You'll get used to it in no time, isn't that right, Papa?" Jennifer gave her husband a nod. "Oh, and Papa! Did you see the wonderful gift Yu-chan bought for Wol-chan?"

"You bought Wolfram something?" Shoma gave Yuri an awkward look and then smiled. "Oh, yes. For the date, right?"

Yuri quietly groaned. "Yeah. Mom told you about, eh? So, _Mom_, what do you have planned?"

"Oh, Yu-chan, it's a surprise. And why can't you call me Momma?"

-o-o-

The next day didn't go by any faster. School dragged, but he was able to turn in at least one assignment from each of his teachers that were due. Most of the teachers seemed surprised that he was turning in something so soon, but he warned them that he'd be absent again next week, so he might as well do what he could now.

Ken caught up with Yuri after classes, convincing his friend to let him stay the night with him. He seemed eager to get back to Shin Makoku and wanted to leave first thing in the morning. Plus, Ken agreed to help Yuri with his homework if only he could hang out with his bestest buddy. Yuri reluctantly agreed.

-o-o-

Ken fluffed one of Yuri's pillows and threw himself on it after he worked it to his preferred thickness. "Man, I haven't had a sleepover in a long time."

Yuri looked over at Ken from his desk and pointedly waved his pencil at him. "You are not sleeping on my bed."

"But, Shibuya," Ken said with a pout, sticking out his lower lip, "it's big enough for the both of us."

Yuri threw his pencil at his friend cuddling the pillow. "No!"

Ken ducked behind the pillow and glared at Yuri. "Hey, you could have stabbed me with that! Although, the probability is a little low…"

"Fine." Yuri grabbed another pencil from a cup on his desk and went back to his English assignment. "If you sleep on my bed, I'm sleeping on the floor." He sat for a moment, staring at the piece of paper in front of him. "Hey, Murata. I'm not sure how 'kekkon' works in this sentence."

Ken crawled over to Yuri and reached for the paper, sliding it to the edge of the desk. " 'Seito wa raigetsu Izumi to kekkon shimasu,' " he read. "Ah, 'kekkon'. Marriage… 'Seito is going to marry Izumi next month.' is the correct way to say it. See? You want 'marry', not 'marriage' here."

"I see now." Yuri looked at the paper he was writing on and wrinkled his nose. "I had it all mixed up then. Why does English have to switch things around like that?"

Ken handed back the original assignment to Yuri and looked over at the other paper Yuri had in front of him. "Yeah, you have to switch those… English isn't too hard to learn as long as you're taught it growing up. I learned at least five languages that way."

Yuri regarded Ken for a moment. "How many people have you been in the past?"

Ken laid down back on the bed, his head falling into Yuri's pillow. "Hmm… there's obviously the Great Sage. I honestly can't count them all. In the beginning I had some incarnations as mazoku that lived nearly a thousand years. One lived to be around 500. I did have a life as a human in Shin Makoku. That was a difficult time. He lived to be, uh, 75 I think. After that was when I was transferred to Earth, and the longest lifespan I've had here was ninety-… four, if I recall correctly."

"So you've lived at least ten lives?" Yuri rested his arms on his desk and whistled in awe. "I can't imagine having all those memories."

"I don't remember everything about them, just dramatic and life-altering moments. I remember most of my time as the Great Sage though." Ken grinned at his friend. "You could probably ask me anything about Shin Makoku, and I'd know."

Yuri pondered for a second, and then his eyes lit up. "Oh!"

"Oh?"

"This may sound stupid, but…" Yuri cleared his throat and looked towards the door. "My mom has this crazy notion."

Ken lifted himself up on his elbows. "Your mom just has 'inventive' notions. They're nothing stupid."

Yuri looked back to Ken and shook his head. "She got this idea that Shin Makoku males might be able to, uh… well, you know, have kids."

Ken laughed. "You're the crazy one if you think guys can't have children. All men can have children, unless they're sterile, of course. You have a father, don't you? What makes you think otherwise?"

Yuri gave Ken a confused look with scrunched eyebrows. "Wait." Realization hit him, and Yuri quickly shook his head. "No! Not like that. I know we can _have _kids… No, I meant, um, like _bear_ kids. Like get pregnant or something."

"I know what you meant." Ken smiled. "I just wanted to hear you say it." He sat up and crossed his legs. "It wasn't possible from what I know, but things may have changed since then. You might want to ask someone else about it. Gisela's a doctor; she might know. Why? Did you want to have a baby with Wolfram, Shibuya?"

"Of course not," Yuri said with a snort. "I just wanted to prove my mom's theory wrong. She tried to say that maybe they could reproduce like fish."

"Wow… she really is imaginative. You sure you don't want to have a baby with Wolfram?" Ken asked with a grin.

Yuri sighed and leaned back in his chair, abandoning all hope of finishing his homework that night. "You know I'm still working out my feelings, Murata. I don't know what the future holds for us. For the moment, no, I don't want a kid; I'm too young for one. Besides, you said yourself that men can't bear children after all, so there's no point dwelling on it."

"Yeah, it's impossible, but there might be the possibility of divine intervention."

"Divine intervention." Yuri rolled his eyes. "Now you're just making stuff up."

Ken shrugged. "Many religions have instances of impossible pregnancies. Gods got humans pregnant all the time in Greek mythology. It should be impossible for a virgin to have a child, but there's stuff in the Christian Bible about it."

"And they were all woman, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then it's still impossible." Yuri let out a breath through his nose and shook his head at Ken. "I'm not going to give the notion of male pregnancies another thought until I see one for myself."

Ken quickly took the pillow next to him and shoved it under his pajama top. "Now do you believe, Shibuya?"

Yuri threw another pencil at him in response.

-o-o-

Yuri opened his eyes as his alarm started beeping some awfully annoying note. He flipped over to yell at Ken to turn the snooze on so they could sleep for another five minutes when he met a pair of black eyes on the other side. Yuri screamed and threw himself off of his makeshift bed on the floor and promptly into the wall.

Murata sat up from lying on the floor and grinned up at the gasping boy. "Such a violent reaction, Shibuya."

"God, Murata!" Yuri fumed for a moment, collecting himself before he went to turn off the alarm that was only adding to his racing heart. "Give me heart attack… Why on Earth were you on the floor? And so close?" Yuri shivered.

"I was waiting for you to get up. You weren't expecting to see me; perhaps you would have liked to see pretty green eyes?" Ken gave Yuri a wink.

"Let's just get ready and go." Yuri pulled his school uniform out of the closet and threw it on the bed. "Go change, and turn on the light before you leave."

"Can do!" Ken leapt up from the floor and grabbed his small bag, doing as Yuri asked before he went to the bathroom.

Yuri changed, packing some of his homework into a waterproof bag. He walked downstairs only to discover his mother and Ken chatting excitedly.

"What are you doing up, Mom?" Yuri asked, setting his bag down on the coffee table.

"I made you boys breakfast because I knew you were going to leave really early." Jennifer stuck out her lower lip. "You thought Momma wasn't going to say goodbye?"

Ken gave Yuri an open-mouthed shocked expression. "Shame on you, Shibuya. Momma just wanted to see us off."

"It's fine, it's fine." Yuri quickly waved them off and walked to the dining table. "What'd you make us, Mom?"

Jennifer rushed into the kitchen and returned with three plates. "Just some toast and an egg. Nothing special, Yu-chan."

Yuri sat down at the table in front of one of the plates that his mother set down. Murata joined them. They ate quietly before Jennifer asked when they were coming back.

"Oh," Yuri said as he put his food down. "I figured I'd come for… the date. Did you pick a day for that yet? Or what do I need to do?"

"Don't you worry about a thing, Yu-chan. We've got it all covered." Jennifer clapped her hands together. "Just come on a Sunday, and I'll be able to work it out."

"I don't want to do it next week." Yuri shook his head. "Wolfram and I just had a date last weekend, so I don't want it to be too soon-"

"You already had a date?!" Jennifer exclaimed, quickly grabbing Yuri's hands. "Tell me about it, please, Yu-chan. Momma must hear how your first date went."

Yuri shrugged, eyeballing Ken in hopes that his friend might bail him out, but no such luck. "It was fine, Mom. It's bad enough I'm letting you plan another date, but I don't need to divulge my private life that much, do I?"

Jennifer frowned. "But Yu-chan, I want to know what happens in your life. Now that you've got a big country to take care of, I know you'll never get to date a sweet girl from school, and I can't take pictures of you two going off to a school event…" Her eyes started to well up with tears that she held back with a pouty lip. "But this is so much more exciting, Yu-chan. Wolfram has been a nice young man, and he's so pretty, Yu-chan. Let Momma do this one thing for you two, please?"

Yuri sighed, returning to his food. "Two weeks. We'll return in two weeks. Oh, I was wondering if Greta could come next time."

Jennifer squealed again, her pout disappearing. "I would love to see your daughter, Yu-chan! I can't believe you haven't brought her before. What size does she wear?"

"What size?" Yuri blinked as his mother fidgeted with bow on her apron in anticipation. "No, she won't fit my old clothes. She's ten, Mom."

"Then I'll just have to go buy her new ones," she said with a smile.

Ken nodded in agreement. "Greta will like that."

"Done yet, Murata?" Yuri asked before he took his final bite.

Ken took his last few bites and opened his mouth to show he had swallowed it all. "Time for dessert now?"

"Oh!" Jennifer jumped up from the table, disappearing into the kitchen again and returning with a boxed cherry pie. "Put this in one of your bags and give to Wol-chan and Gre-chan for me."

"Sure, Mom." Yuri did as he was told, having to go back to his room to get another waterproof bag, and put the pie in the bag. He grabbed his other bag and put his shoes on before making sure Ken joined him in going to the bathroom.

With only two people, they had no problem fitting in the bathtub that Ken had conveniently filled that morning. Ken waved to Jennifer, thanking her for the breakfast. Yuri just said goodbye since his arms were full, and they left through the water.

-o-o-

End of chapter 17.

Well, that was crap-tastic. But I added in the last scene to make it longer.

Blah, you've all probably figured out what Yuri got just from all that narrowing down I did. But there are a few possibilities left… You'll just have to wait until Wolfram gets to see it, too. Hah!

If you're wondering how the yen vs. US dollars works out… 1 yen is worth almost a penny. So the earrings I mentioned that cost 300.000 (that's actually 300,000 since they use the decimal point instead of a comma) yen comes close to $3,000. And no, I don't speak Japanese, very little in fact. I looked some stuff up for that English/Japanese homework assignment.

Wow, so many of you want an Mpreg so far… My main problem with it is: MEN DO NOT HAVE BREASTS/makes an angry squishy face/ I know there's so many things that have to be explained/made up in order for a man to get pregnant ('cause that hole doesn't lead anywhere productive… and there are no eggs or a uterus), but I just can't explain away breasts. For the first few months (at the least) of their life, babies get nutrition from their mother's milk which comes from boobs. And I say again, men don't have them. And if you get all weird and add boobs to a man, you're trying to figure out if it is a man with breasts or a woman with a penis… /sighs/ You could just say Mazoku babies don't need Momma's milk, but then there wouldn't be much of a reason for woman to have breasts. There's more to it than that, but that's my main issue with the Mpreg. And besides, if a man could get pregnant they deserve to get a menstrual cycle, too. It's only fair. /awaits feedback/ Besides, I'm the writer, and I can do whatever I want, whether you like it or not/evil laughter/ And remember, this is all just theoretical for a sequel, so in the least, you all can get through this particular story without worrying about whether an Mpreg is going to pop up or not. But the poll _is _still up if you haven't voted on whether you'd like an Mpreg or not.

On a complete side note: I watched the first episode of the Devil May Cry anime (since I bought the special edition of the DMC4 game) and it's so creepy to hear sweet Conrad as brutal (and sexy) Dante. I keep imagining him say 'Wolfram' in the middle of a sentence… Gah! And Gwendal snuck into DMC, too! It's so strange. I've been noticing KKM voices all over the place. I was even able to catch Cheri's a few times (almost always sexy/busty women). And Murata's in Angel Tales/goes to watch more anime and match up voices/

Read and review, please!


	19. Preparation

But I Don't Like Boys

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Warnings/Spoilers: Yeah, same as before, too.

Author yapping: I'm so sorry I haven't updated in over 3 months! My boyfriend was home a lot more than I anticipated, and it doesn't help that I've had a major writer's block while I had some free time. There are all sorts of little excuses spaced out for me, but mostly, it's been my boyfriend (just causes distractions galore). I'm sorry!

And I added some info to my profile. I'll keep you guys updated on my fanfics progress. Like now, Ch.18 is done for BIDLB, so 19 has yet to be started. Oh wait, I have like two sentences of it. - And D-fVC has a few paragraphs written, but I want to wait for ep.93 to be subbed, so I can better understand the Greta-centric episode and see what I can "take" from it. So go look and see. If a really long time passes, go look and see if my profile says anything new (and if I have any excuses put up, too). See you in the next update!

-o-o-

**Chapter 18: Preparation**

"Oh, good, you're back," Gwendal said to Yuri as he entered the king's study, "You can go over these papers with us."

Yuri had merely poked his head into the study after arriving back from Shinou's temple, wondering why there hadn't been anyone there to greet him, and Gwendal already wanted him to return to his kingly duties. Yuri sighed and trudged unceremoniously to the desk. Gwendal sat in the large-back chair in the middle of the desk, but stood up and offered it to Yuri, handing him a few pieces of paper that he and Wolfram had been looking over.

Wolfram gave Yuri a small smile when the king looked over at the blond sitting in a smaller chair to his left. Yuri smiled back, about to say 'hello', when Gwendal put more papers on the desk, diverting the blond's attention. The king frowned a little, put off by the unfriendly greeting. Sure, Wolfram had acknowledged his presence with a nod, but so had everyone else. Wolfram couldn't possibly find what Gwendal was saying on the other side of him all that interesting.

"And this one is for the bridge." Gwendal moved the paper to the side and put another one next to it. "Here's another for a road. All of these constructional entreaties would require another tax increase, so we've decided to allow one project for now to ease the tax payer's burden. If you look over the documents," he pointed at the middle one, "you'll see all the details required to complete it."

"_We_ decided?" Yuri took the first document Gwendal had placed before him about a building in a village he had never heard of. He'd have to look over the maps again.

Wolfram nodded. "Yes, Gwendal and I looked through all the requests and picked out the five most plausible and suitable projects."

"You and Gwendal?"

Gwendal cleared his throat, jerking the king's attention back to him. "Is that a problem, Your Majesty?"

Yuri slightly colored. "Well, no. I just – I don't know. It's sort of strange, I guess. You two doing this."

"As the future prince consort, I thought it was time Wolfram learn his duties as well," Gwendal said pointedly.

"Prince… consort?" The king turned to Wolfram when the blond nodded. "So, if…" he trailed off and colored a bit more. "_If_ we got, um, married, you'd still be a prince?"

Wolfram gave Yuri a slight nod again. "Only one person can hold the title of Maou whether he be male or female. Their spouse is a consort, a rank just below the Maou."

Yuri sat back in his chair and rested his arms out on the desk in front of him. "Then there's no king _and _queen? Just one or the other? If I married a girl then, she wouldn't be my queen?"

Wolfram quickly pushed his chair back then, standing to fist his hands at this side. "You want a queen?!" His eyes filled with anger, and Yuri cringed under the look. "Is there a girl? Huh, you cheater?"

Yuri put his hands up defensively, sweating a little. "Calm down, Wolfram. There's no girl. I swear."

Wolfram huffed and none-to-gracefully plopped back into the chair. "If you want a queen, I suggest you go be the king of some human land."

"Wolfram!" Yuri yelled, a little surprised at his own volume. He shrank into his chair. "I…"

Gwendal cleared his throat as seemed to be his specialty for the time being. Wolfram just grunted and went back to looking at the entreaty documents. Yuri swallowed and did the same, nervously glancing over at the blond from time to time.

But in the end, the documents seemed to distract the blond prince enough for him to forget the issue of queens. Which Yuri was glad for since he was starting to get dizzy trying to go through all the paperwork, and the brat prince was helping him sort out the details.

Hours later, Yuri finally agreed with Wolfram and Gwendal that another bridge would probably be most beneficial to the kingdom in that it would allow easier travel rather than the current route that zigzagged through the mountains. It wasn't far from the castle either, so Yuri could check on its progress if he wanted to without too much complaint from the others.

-o-o-

It wasn't yet dark when they were called for dinner, and the three of them continued their talk about the bridge construction. Yuri was eager to see it started, but Gwendal assured him that it could be months before the preparations for it were complete. The king hung his head, excited to see his kingly duties in motion and yet having to wait for them to follow through.

Wolfram gave him a pat on the back and said that the people will be pleased with the new bridge. Yuri smiled.

Yuri made sure that his mother's cherry pie was brought out for dessert, and everyone got a small piece since there were seven people to split it with. Ken had stayed to eat at the shrine, but Yuri invited him to dine with them whenever possible.

Wolfram followed Yuri back to his room when dessert was over, the two of them quiet the whole way. But Yuri had something he wanted to say as he opened the door.

"What was that all about, Wolfram?" Yuri closed the door behind him, eyeing the blond as he walked towards the bed.

Wolfram turned to face Yuri again and sat on the edge of the bed. "What was what all about?"

Yuri pushed off the door and snorted. "That greeting earlier. It was like –"

"Like what?" Wolfram stood again, walking towards the clearly distressed king.

Yuri looked at Wolfram when the blond stopped in front of him. "I don't know. I mean, you didn't say 'hello' or 'welcome back'. Sure, I got a nod, an acknowledgement, but," he stopped his small rant to look at the floor near Wolfram's foot. "I just thought…"

"Do you want the greeting I would have given you?"

"Eh?" Yuri stared at the blond for a moment before Wolfram stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Yuri's neck.

Wolfram gave him a small kiss on the lips and drew his head back to smile. "Welcome back, Yuri." Yuri blushed a deep red and his body stiffened with nerves. Wolfram stepped back to take in Yuri's flustered state and laughed. "Was that what you wanted?"

Yuri was starting to return to a normal color, but the blush lingered despite his wishes. "Well, no, but…"

Wolfram smirked and put a hand on his hip. "It was hardly appropriate to give you that sort of greeting with Gwendal sitting right there. But if you're going to make a big deal out of etiquette, I'll give you more attention in the future."

"No! That's not it at all!" Yuri tried to argue, and anything he was about to say died in his throat. He sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Wolfram. You… can greet me any way you want."

Wolfram cocked an eyebrow at the king. "You're such a wimp, Yuri." He turned and walked towards the bed, kicking off his boots as he sat down. "Let's get to bed."

Yuri nodded his agreement and went to the closet to change. Why did things have to get so complicated?

-o-o-

"You ready, Your Majesty?" Amelia asked as Yuri waded around in the large bucket of water.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yuri said with a smile.

Yuri had gone through the week preparing documents and other kingly duties under Gwendal and Gunter's watch. Nothing particularly exciting happened, but somehow he had caught up with his work, and almost with his school work as well, so Yuri insisted that he train with Amelia. Working on his maryoku was something he needed as the king, so it took little argument to agree to let him train with Amelia the next day.

Yuri had sent out a letter hastily to ask Amelia to join him at the castle for some one-on-one water teleportation instruction. The girl had quickly responded and come over the following day.

"Tell it to me one more time."

Amelia bent down and put her hand in the water. "Greta's over there by that bucket of water. You want to go there. Simple."

Yuri felt the familiar pull of the water, and in moments, was standing next to Greta. "But I wanted to do it on my own this time!" Yuri yelled at Amelia from across the small courtyard.

"Then get back over here!" She yelled back.

Yuri gave Greta a small pat on her head and stepped out of the water. Amelia immediately yelled at him to get back into the bucket and try to transport himself over to her. He rolled his eyes. _Easier said than done…_

Greta stood beside him, repeating what she had heard Amelia say to her father earlier that day. "Vision where you want to go, Papa. Picture Amelia and that bucket over there. Um… oh! Focus on the water. I know you can do it."

Yuri smiled down at his daughter, grateful for her support. He had done this a hundred times, going back and forth between his world and this one, but Murata had been there to act as his buffer once Shinou no longer controlled his transportation. Amelia wasn't in a different world at all, just a short distance away, and yet, Yuri hadn't been able to transport himself to or from her. Amelia had ended up transporting him a few times in hopes that Yuri would start to get into the rhythm of the water and pick up any necessary techniques as he went.

Yuri closed his eyes and wiggled his bare toes in the water below him. If he understood Amelia correctly, he had to somehow meld this small body of water with the water in the bucket near Amelia. He needed a focus – Amelia should be the focus. Yuri was eager to work this out so that he could take Wolfram and Greta to Earth without having to drag Murata along. His date with Wolfram was next week…

The water swirled at his ankles, and Yuri squeezed his eyes tighter. This was it, he just needed to concentrate. He could feel the water latching onto his skin, starting to pull, and now that he was paying attention to it, it felt really weird. He stifled a giggle, since it almost tickled, and imagined Wolfram yelling at him for being a wimp.

Yuri felt the major pull and braced himself. The cool water rushed up over his head as he was completely submerged. Yuri quickly surfaced, taking in a breath. He groaned as he stood up, the water coming up to his chest. This wasn't the bucket next to Amelia at all! _How the heck did I get into the bath chamber? _Yuri thought as he took a wide look around the steamy room.

"Yuri?"

The king flipped around in the water, his heart slamming up into his throat as he found himself standing face-to-face with Wolfram. He stuttered out an embarrassed, "Yeah?" and tried to keep his eyes above the water.

Wolfram looked at Yuri, puzzled. "Did you… just transport yourself here?"

Yuri nodded, embarrassment starting to flood his cheeks. "I'm training with Amelia, and I was _supposed_ to go to her, but I'm not sure what happened."

"Oh," Wolfram said, turning to grab the soap behind him. "Is that going well?"

"If I ended up here instead of where I wanted to go, I'd say it's not going all that well," Yuri huffed.

Wolfram shrugged. "I see. But you might want to get out of the water with your clothes or transport yourself back soon."

"Ah…" Yuri heavily walked through the water to the edge of the bath. "I still think there has to be an easier way than this." He hoisted himself out of the water, a huge puddle splashing itself into existence as it seeped from his clothing.

Wolfram looked up at Yuri beside him and started to rub the liquid soap into his hair, small foamy bubbles forming in his blonde locks. "I wouldn't know too much about it, but could you just _remove_ the water from your body? I mean, I can start a fire and make it go away…"

Yuri thought about it for a moment, drawing his knees up to his chest. "I dunno. Can you get rid of a fire that you didn't start?"

"No. But that's completely different, Yuri. Water and fire are –" He stopped short when Yuri leaned over to take the soap bottle from him, scooted to sit behind him, and began scrubbing his hair. Wolfram blushed immediately, not sure how he felt about Yuri suddenly washing his hair; Yuri had never wanted to before. "Water and fire are different elements. And our maryoku have completely different levels..." He resisted leaning into Yuri's hand as it massaged the soap at the base of his neck.

Yuri was baffled as to what possessed him to wash Wolfram's hair, but now that he was doing it, he didn't really mind. Wolfram hadn't put up a fight, but then again, why would he have? "But I've never used my powers, except for healing, when I'm just me."

Wolfram leaned his head back against Yuri's sopping wet ankles as the king had sat down cross-legged behind him. "Healing's a start." He moved to get back up again, realizing that he was getting soap all over Yuri's pants.

But Yuri pulled his head back down to rest on his legs. Wolfram didn't need to have his hair cleaned for this long, but Yuri was willingly touching him, and as long as he didn't try to take things anything further and freak-out his inexperienced king… "I'll ask Amelia about it. You think I might be able to do something like that, Wolfram?"

"I don't see why not. You should see some of the things you're capable of as the Maou, Yuri." Wolfram craned his neck to look up at Yuri behind him. "It really is amazing."

Yuri looked away, his hands pausing in Wolfram's hair. "That's just it. As the_ Maou_. I'm not capable of what he can do."

The blond sunk into the water, taking a quick rinse. He arose facing Yuri, trails of bubbles still lingering in his slicked-back hair. "You don't give yourself enough credit. Maybe your doubt is what's holding you back from harnessing your maryoku to its full potential."

"More like my lack of abilities." Yuri rolled his eyes and moved to stand up, but Wolfram reached out and pulled him into the bath. He surfaced, sputtering. "What was that for?!"

"Go to Amelia, now," Wolfram said, pushing at Yuri to stand up straighter.

Yuri pushed Wolfram away gently. "But I can't."

The prince sighed and stood in front of Yuri. "Why can't you? What were her instructions about transporting yourself through the water?"

"I don't know…"

"You're a useless student," Wolfram groaned. "I know she gave you some techniques or something. Use them."

Yuri was suddenly glad the water was full of bubbly soap, keeping him from being able to see the extent of Wolfram's body under the water. "She said stuff about picturing where you want to go and, uh, merging waters. I don't know, it was all complicated, and-"

"Did Amelia send you here?"

"No, she... didn't." Yuri paused, a smile slowly spreading across his face. "Amelia didn't transport me here. At least, I don't think so since I was next to Greta, and Amelia wasn't touching me."

"See? You probably did it on your own then, Yuri." Wolfram smiled back, placing a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Just do what you did then, again."

"I…" Yuri paused again, his smile turning into a slightly surprised 'o'. "I thought about you."

This resulted in a soft blush from Wolfram. "I, um, don't think that will get you back to Amelia. You have to think about where you want to go, right?"

"And that's why… I ended up here. Amelia was my focus, I swear. I just got distracted with thinking about getting this right for our date, and-"

"Our date?" Wolfram interrupted.

Yuri scrunched his face, embarrassed at having been caught. "Yeah, our date. I meant to keep it a surprise, but my mom is setting up one for us on Earth."

"And you _want_ to go on another date?" The blond stepped forward in the water while Yuri stepped back. Yuri was comfortable with the distance between them, but he didn't want to confirm whether Wolfram had on a towel under the water or not. "You're willingly going on a second date?"

Yuri blushed, averting his eyes again. "I told you I wanted to try to work this out. How am I supposed to if I don't try the normal couple stuff? I," he started but fumbled, "I do like you, Wolfram. Just give me time to… to think about it. I mean, I don't know what your culture requires for a second date, or if there are any implications behind it, but…"

Wolfram smiled, staying that safe distance away from Yuri to keep the black-haired boy from turning tail and running. "Second dates are to confirm compatibility. You catch your interest's attention in the first – it's all about pleasing them. The second says that you realized they were responsive to your advances and want to see how the two of you can interact with one another."

"But isn't that the same thing?" Yuri asked.

"Yes and no… Hold on a moment." Wolfram leaned his head back to fully rinse out his hair and came back up with a quick head shake. "What are second dates for you on Earth?"

"Why are we still talking about this?"

"You wanted to know about dates."

"Yeah, but why like this?" Yuri gestured at the water. "I'm still dressed. And you, you're-" His face flamed.

"Taking a bath?" Wolfram offered. "You were the one that barged in. If you're so uncomfortable, then why haven't you left already? If you can't teleport yourself back, you could have just walked out and gone back to Amelia."

"Wanting to see you was what got me here in the first place!" Yuri yelled, immediately wishing to take it back. "I keep trying to go back, to see if I can, and all that I can think about is you here, and… at this rate, I _will_ have to walk back."

Wolfram watched Yuri huffily stalk through the water to the bath's edge and snickered. "Should I make myself scarce to see if you can go back then?"

Yuri sighed.

-o-o-

End of chapter 18.

And I would have written more so I could just leap into them going to Earth in the next chapter, but I just kept going with it. So, we'll still get to Earth in the next chapter, just probably a scene or two later.

I apologize if my writing seems rushed. It's me trying to get things out when I have an hour to myself and being uber-impatient to get to the good stuff. Like the date, or events that happen during/after, and at least two other major things that might be exciting. Well, one of them will throw you all for a loop, I think. I'm so excited! I did a lot of research for it, too. But I bet you can't guess what it is… and I'm not going to tell you. /smacks anyone who tries to say baby/ I told you that baby(ies) _might_ come in a sequel, so XP.

Read and review, please!


	20. Sudden Friction

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi, Temari Matsumoto, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co, etc. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: This does take place after the end of the anime's 2nd season, but as of right now, there's not too much in the way of spoilers. This is a boy/boy love story, and therefore, two guys will be involved in a relationship together. If this isn't your cup of tea, I suggest you find another story... Also, rating may or may not go up in later chapters.

Author yapping: Again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait, especially for BIDLB... For those of you that are coming back, thanks for sticking around! I hope to get some inspiration back and get this puppy rolling. And for those of you just joining, welcome, and I hope you continue to stick around, however long it may be. XD Hey, I've had to wait long bouts of time for some of the fics I've read, too.

-o-o-

**Chapter 19: Sudden Friction  
**

Yuri sighed, leaning heavily against the side of the bath, resting his arms under his chin. "Just don't make fun of me, Wolfram."

"Why would I make fun of you?" Wolfram asked some distance behind Yuri in the water.

"I don't know. Just don't say anything to distract me, and I'll try again." Yuri didn't want to turn around; seeing Wolfram would probably make it all go down the drain. He closed his eyes for extra measure, thinking of the blue-haired women, Amelia, but he felt so weird trying to picture someone he knew next to nothing about. When Yuri had thought about Wolfram, his abilities - or whatever they were - reacted almost immediately. But thinking about Wolfram only rooted him there.

Perhaps if he thought about someone he knew better; he could picture Greta with her big brown eyes and curly auburn hair. Yuri smiled. Yes, he might be able to use Greta as his focus instead.

That is, until there was a loud splash and a feminine shriek echoed through the bath chambers. "Your Majesty!" Amelia threw herself at the edge of the bath next to Yuri, panting for air. "Thank Shinou you're alright."

Yuri blinked at her, slightly irritated that his focus had been interrupted, but feeling guilty he had made her worry for some reason. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Amelia turned to Yuri with wide eyes. "When you didn't show up in the water out in the courtyard, we started to worry. You could have gotten stuck somewhere, Your Majesty! Shinou knows what would have happened if you hadn't successfully teleported yourself and you had drowned in the middle of the ocean with no escape."

Yuri swallowed nervously. "No one told me it was that dangerous!" He paled and dropped his head onto the bath's edge, suddenly dizzy.

"That's why you can never be distracted," Amelia said with a sigh. "Your Majesty, you have to be very careful of where you want to go." She turned her head to face Wolfram and frowned. "And stop distracting him."

Wolfram blushed, embarrassed that there were now two people fully clothed in the bath with him. Great. "But I didn't do anything," he whined, dipping all but his head into the water.

"Don't think I don't know why His Majesty ended up here, Wolfram von Bielefield." Amelia ran a hand over her wet hair and smirked. "Maybe I should drag you along to help with teaching Yuri to use his maryoku properly."

"So..." Yuri lifted up his head from the cool tile. "I really did get here because I thought of Wolfram?"

Amelia nodded, still smiling. "There are other ways to travel, but picturing loved ones is one of the least complicated ways to teleport. I should have known you'd pick up on it better than merging the waters in each place." She pushed herself away from the bath's edge and winked at Yuri. "I'll be back in the courtyard when you decide to join us." She ducked under the water and was gone.

Yuri and Wolfram stood in the steaming water for awhile, the silence weighing down on them awkwardly. Wolfram cleared his throat not too far from Yuri. "You... should probably get going."

"Yeah..."

Wolfram reached out and put a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Good luck."

Yuri smiled back at Wolfram. "I guess I'll need it." He closed his eyes again and tried to picture Greta. Curly auburn hair. Big brown eyes. Bright and childish smile. The water swirled gently around Yuri as he worked on his focus. Greta would be happy to see him; she'd throw up her arms to give him a hug. His loving and warm daughter. Yuri didn't bury himself in the water but instead felt it rise around him and sink him into a cool embrace.

And then he felt a breeze roll over his wet skin, seeping through his clothing. Yuri shivered and opened his eyes to see Greta beaming up at him. Her hands reached up, and she excitedly grabbed him around the middle.

"You did it, Yuri!" She said, bubbly.

"I did," Yuri said back, wrapping an arm around her. He looked up across the courtyard and gave Amelia a thumbs up. Amelia lightly clapped from afar and nodded. Yuri let go of Greta and watched the blue-haired woman. "Hey, Amelia," he yelled at her, "say my name!"

Amelia's mouth twisted with confusion, but she shrugged and yelled back, "Your Majesty!"

"No! Just my name. Yuri. No titles."

Amelia seemed hesitant until she smiled and called out "Yuri!"

Yuri wrapped her voice around his mind. The sound of her voice calling out his name, the way it had said 'I don't deserve this, but I'd like to be your friend'. If she stuck around long enough, Amelia would soon learn that he didn't care about status. Yuri pictured the time he had first met her, a beautiful young woman that wanted to help an old friend and her king. How Wolfram had seemed embarrassed to ask for her help, but too proud to admit it. A friend. Despite her past with Wolfram, Yuri could still be friends with her. He had made friends out of enemies... this would be no problem at all. He could even try to persuade stories of a Wolfram before Yuri from her. He heard her call his name again in his head, and Yuri gazed at Amelia a bit longer. A gentle pull, a rush of water, and he was standing next to her.

Amelia jumped back, clearly surprised to find the king suddenly by her side. "Your Majesty."

"Ah, ah." Yuri shook a finger at her. "Learn to call me Yuri, please."

"Yuri..." Amelia's face brightened. "Good to see you're figuring this all out."

Yuri nodded vigorously. "Thinking about the person works so much better. I came to you because I saw us as friends. Besides just picturing the physical person, I can put feelings and memories to it." He was gesturing widely with his hands. "I think I can go just about anywhere as long as the person I'm thinking of is near water."

"That's the gist of it, Your - Yuri." She felt weird not using his title, but it was what he wanted. Who was she to argue with the king?

"Greta!" Yuri waved at his daughter back on the other side of the courtyard who waved back with her whole arm. In one moment he was standing near Amelia, and the next, he was back through the water and energetically hugging and twirling with Greta.

Greta giggled as her father shared his achievement. "Wolfram will be so pleased, Yuri!"

"Oh, right!" Yuri grabbed Greta's hand and stepped quickly back into the bucket of water, helping Greta to get in with him. "Let's go tell him." Wolfram was a young man sprawled out on the bed, kicking Yuri off. He was a father reading Greta a bedtime story as she jumped in his lap instead of laying on the bed like he told her. A soldier prince rushing to catch Yuri before he fell. A partner. A friend. New feelings. Excitement. Love.

The water came quicker and stronger than it had when Yuri moved to Amelia or Greta, and he gripped Greta's hand harder. He heard her give a delighted squeal, and they both were rocketed through dark water until they surfaced in the private baths, laughing. "We made it, Greta! I can do this."

Wolfram had hardly the time to react before Yuri practically mauled him in an exuberant hug. "Wolf! I did it!" He waved and gestured behind him at Greta treading water. "I got both of us here. And it's not like a didn't think I couldn't take her with me. I just knew I cou-." He stopped short and turned as bright red as Wolfram's face had suddenly become. It was at that moment, Yuri realized that indeed Wolfram had _not _been wearing a towel.

-o-o-

Dinner that night was much too long. The entire table watched Yuri and Wolfram exchange strange and embarrassed glances after nearly every bite they took. Cheri knew better than to think there had been real progress in her son's and the king's relationship that would cause the bashful looks they shared, but Gunter and Gwendal had assumed the worst, Gunter outwardly showing his fretting much more so than the creased brows of Gwendal. Gunter finally relented his worried gnawing on his napkin and fled from the dining room. Conrad just knowingly smiled with his mother. Even the maids were whispering to one another, setting up bets of what could possibly have happened. Greta was too caught up in the earlier bliss of Yuri successfully teleporting that she finished off her food and excused herself to plan her packing early for the trip to Earth.

When Gwendal cleared his throat and excused himself as well, Conrad stood and asked Cheri to join him in a walk around the gardens. Which left Yuri and Wolfram sitting at the table in awkward silence as the maids hurried to clear the abandoned plates. To the ladies' disappointment, Yuri and Wolfram didn't talk at all with the rest of the diners gone. Not even the guards got a bit to relay to the maids as the king and prince went their ways to their separate bedrooms.

The castle was in a hushed uproar for the rest of the night, maids and guards (and Gunter) vying for any bit of information from anyone relating to that day's events. Yuri had been training his maryoku with Amelia, and he hadn't even seen Wolfram, had he? The rumors that started to spread like wildfire that night where nearly as ridiculous as the night Yuri and Wolfram had snuck out of the city.

-o-o-

Yuri woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He sat up, yawning, and tried to wipe the sleep out of his eyes. "Come in?" Yuri questioned whoever was waiting behind the door. He expected a guard to march in and let him know breakfast was ready, but he had no idea of the time. It wasn't that late in the morning, was it? Instead, he blinked at Greta sheepishly peeking her head into the open door. "Greta. Come, come," he motioned for her to join him in the bed.

Greta joined him, the usual bounce in her step seemingly missing.

"What's up?" Yuri asked as she sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "Something wrong?"

"Are you and Wolfram getting an annulment?" Greta turned to Yuri with large and seeking eyes.

"What?!" Yuri threw off the covers and situated himself closer to Greta. "Where'd you get that idea?"

Greta's brows drew together as the pout in lips began to soften. "So you're not?"

Yuri scratched at the tip of his nose with a lightly nervous laugh. "Not that I know of. Wolfram didn't... say he wanted to break it off again, did he?"

Greta shook her head. "Everyone says you two went to your own bedrooms last night, and that something weird was going on between the two of you. I can't believe I didn't even notice it last night, Yuri. I was so excited about the trip to Earth. Don't leave Wolfram, please? I really do want Wolfram to be my Papa for real, too."

Yuri reached over and patted the top of her head. "Don't worry about it. Nothing happened yesterday that will negatively affect our relationship. I promised myself, my mother, and Wolfram that I would try to work this out. And... things sort of happen." His face became suddenly hot. "Things that you do because you feel a certain way about someone."

"Did you two try to make a baby?!"

Yuri felt steam rising from his ears. "No!" His hands flailed about. "Not at all! We - we-" He nearly fainted when a blushing Wolfram stepped into his bedroom.

"Yuri just figured out some truth behind the way I feel. That's all." Wolfram stayed by the door, leaning against it with his hands behind his back.

Greta jumped up from the bed and rushed over to Wolfram. "So there's really nothing wrong? You two aren't going to break up?"

Wolfram lightly shook his. "No. We'll make sure you know any dramatic changes before the rest of the castle finds out, so don't believe what you hear except what what we tell you. 'Kay?"

Greta nodded and looked over at Yuri impishly. She said to Wolfram, "How did Yuri react to the truth?"

Wolfram's blush returned. "He fled."

"Well, that wasn't very nice," Greta said, shaking a finger at Yuri whom couldn't hear their slightly whispered conversation.

"I suppose not, but give Yuri the benefit of the doubt." Wolfram smiled at Yuri. "I don't think he knew how else to react."

"So he just ran away?"

"Screaming."

Greta giggled. "Like he did in the bath yesterday?"

Wolfram gave a her knowing smile. "Exactly like that."

Satisfied with knowing that her papas hadn't been on the verge of parting, Greta excused herself. She bet Wolfram was there to talk to Yuri about being a meany-head and running off yesterday. Greta skipped down the hall to ask what breakfast was going to be.

Back in Yuri's bedroom, neither Yuri nor Wolfram spoke for awhile, Wolfram hanging back by the door still as Yuri sat at the edge of his bed looking down at his bare feet. The silence was broken when Wolfram watched a bird fly by the window and his eyes landed on his fiance.

And Yuri was the first to speak. While still looking at his feet, he simply said, "I'm sorry."

Wolfram stepped forward, closing some of the distance between them, but leaned against a bedpost at the foot of the bed. "I apologize for subjecting you to that, Yuri. You just jumped on me, and the sudden friction... I just couldn't -"

Yuri shook his head. "I know. I know. It's not like you could help it." His face flushed lightly. Considering all the red faces he had had yesterday and this morning, he was surprised he hadn't gotten a headache or dizzy from the blood rush. "But, uh... afterwards. Were you... okay?" Before Wolfram could reply, Yuri threw up his hands. "I don't need to know! That's none of my business. Wolf, I'm sorry. As a... a... uh... significant other? I should... be taking care of, well, stuff like that."

Wolfram fiddled with the bottom of his jacket, surprisingly sheepish suddenly. "I'll take care of that myself until you can."

"And - and it's not like I'm thinking about it," Yuri blurted out. "I just - As a man, I know that it's not very... comfortable to just... you know, ignore it."

Wolfram sighed. "I know."

-o-o-

End of chapter 19.

Thank god I finally was able to finish this chapter. I just feel so terrible for neglecting it so much. But it's done! Date's just around the corner, so stay tuned. I bet I'll update this next chapter a bit sooner since it's not "filler" like the last few chapters have been, and it's all planned out for the most part.


	21. Don't Sleep Through It

**But I Don't Like Boys?** by Shukumei

Disclaimer: Kyou Kara Maou and all its characters belong to Tomo Takabayashi, Temari Matsumoto, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co, etc. You know the drill.

Warnings/Spoilers: Same as all the other chapters.

Author yapping: Oh geez. Almost half a year. I'm such a terrible person. Nothing too exciting in this chapter, but it's an update and a transition into something more exciting. So tally-ho!

-o-o-

**Chapter 20: "Don't Sleep Through It"**

Greta rushed down the front castle stairs, a last minute book clutched in her hands. She quickly handed the small book to a guard that was putting her traveling case in the carriage's storage compartment. She watched Yuri trying to put his own small suitcase into the compartment when the same guard flustered and insisted he do that for him. Yuri handed it off with a laugh. Wolfram was rolling his eyes.

"Yuri, Yuri!" Greta grabbed her father's hand and grinned up at him. "We're good to go, right?"

Yuri looked down and smiled. "Almost. We're waiting on the translators from Anissina."

As if on queue, the red-headed scientist joined them with Gisela beside her. Standing next to one another, Yuri was remembering what an opposing force they could be. Anissina squatted down in front of Greta. "You have the Get-Away-From-Me-kun packed, right?"

Greta nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

"Get-Away-From-Me-kun?" Yuri asked with a wary glance.

"Yeah!" Greta put her fist out as if holding something and used her other hand to press a finger on the top of her fist. "You point it at a stranger that won't leave you alone, push the button on the top, and it sprays them in the face with something that stings."

"You gave her pepper spray?!" Yuri yelled. "You can't just give a little girl something like that!"

Anissina stood up and loomed over the king. "She's a young woman going into a strange new place. It's better to have some protection than none, Your Majesty. And it's Get-Away-From-Me-kun, not pepper spray. That wouldn't be as effective."

"Ah," Yuri started but stopped when everyone looked at him quizzically. "Never mind. Just show it to me when we get to my house, Greta. I don't want it accidentally blinding some unfortunate victim."

Anissina held up a finger and smiled widely. "But that's one of the best features for it! Push it two times and it will release a sleeping gas, too."

Yeah, Yuri was going to have to get that away from Greta as soon as possible.

-o-o-

Everyone gave their quick goodbyes, Yuri okay'ing that Gwendal and Gunter would be in charge as usual while he was gone. Gunter's goodbye was rather clingy and tearful as Yuri had come to expect while the man babbled about purity and Wolfram hid himself away in the carriage with a red face.

Yuri and Wolfram didn't speak to one another on the way to Shinou's temple, but Greta gabbed enough for the both of them. She excitedly watched the scenery go by, constantly asking if anything like it was on Earth. When Wolfram told her not to be scared by the box with the moving pictures, Yuri thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. He jumped in to try to explain about cameras capturing the moment and then a bunch of tiny lights turned it into something you could watch on the television, but Greta's eyes only seemed to get bigger. Yuri was afraid what she would do when she discovered cars.

-o-o-

"What are you doing here, Murata?" Yuri asked his friend as he, Wolfram, and Greta piled out of the carriage in front of the temple's fountain.

"I'm here to see you off, of course," Murata replied with an impish smile. "Love to join you, but I've got some things to go over with Ulrike. Don't have too much fun without me."

Yuri nodded. "I wanted to try this water teleporting thing without your help, so I'm glad you found something to do while I'm gone."

"You don't think you should do this by yourself once?" Murata frowned, sighing. "You're taking quite the load with you, so don't be surprised if you pass out when you get there."

"You think I will?" Yuri worried on his lower lip and turned to watch Wolfram and Greta helping a guard unload the carriage of their few bags. "I've been practicing a lot on my own, and I seem to be okay."

"But you weren't traversing worlds in the process. The trip from the bathroom to the kitchen doesn't compare to the distance you have to go now." Murata placed a hand on Yuri's shoulder. "Just be safe, my friend. I sure wouldn't want to be the one to sleep through my date."

Yuri scoffed, but offered Murata a smile. "I'll be careful."

"Oh," Murata said suddenly, pulling an envelope in a plastic bag out of his pocket. "Your mom asked for this, be sure she gets it."

"What is it?" Yuri asked, wanting to open it but instead making sure the bag was sealed to avoid water getting in.

Murata waved an accusing finger at him. "She'll know what it is, so don't bother opening it."

"Duly noted." Yuri nodded and slipped into his pant's pocket, taking a moment to feel something solid in it, like a button. He gave Murata a quick pat on the back and joined Wolfram and Greta in grabbing the final bag out of the carriage and then check that everything was properly sealed like he had with the small bag Murata had given him.

In all, there were only four bags since Yuri had provisions at home already and Wolfram could borrow his clothes. So, really, two of the bags were supplies and clothing for Greta (although Yuri suspected his mother would add at least another bag's worth before they left back to Shin Makoku full of girly dresses and the like. One bag was a few clothes for Wolfram and Yuri, a few of which Yuri was bringing home to get a proper wash in the clothes washer. As much as he hated to abuse his mother's love, he knew she'd still feel needed by washing some of his clothes. She was a strange woman that thrived on things like that. The final bag was gifts and souvenir randomness that people around the castle had put together for Yuri's family. Yuri wasn't entirely sure of the full contents of the bag, but he didn't see the harm in humoring his friends.

Yuri turned to Wolfram and picked up a bag, dropping it in the fountain. "You ready?"

Wolfram smiled and dropped another bag in the water.

Greta grabbed the smallest bag and tossed it with the others. "I'm ready!" She stood in the water up to her ankles, barefoot and looking up at Yuri expectantly.

Wolfram handed his boots to Yuri whom was stuffing Greta's slippers into yet another bag. Clothing was easily washed and dried, but shoes were a bit harder to dry, so he untied his sneakers and added them to the bag. "Then let's get going."

Yuri had stressed the importance of them staying together while they were being transported to Earth before this day had arrived. Wolfram gathered up two of the bags around Yuri's feet while he took another bag and the shoe bag in his right hand and grabbed hold of Yuri's hand with his left. Greta too took a bag with her left hand and Yuri's hand with her right so that Yuri was holding both of their hands between them. If he was going to drop anything on the way, it was going to be one of the bags; he tightened his grip and closed his eyes.

The preparation for water transport was becoming a bit more naturally for Yuri as he thought of his smiling mom demanding that he call her Momma. Greta giggled as the water sloshed around their feet, and Yuri wrinkled his eyebrows in concentration. Already he felt a little light-headed as he pictured the water-filled bathtub back at home on Earth, and the black-haired boy gritted his teeth. Yuri never knew what physically happened when he was teleporting since he was too focused on feelings to pay attention. He felt Wolfram give his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he added in the thought of his father and then his brother. Feelings of a strange, yet warm family. His mother would get to see her granddaughter for the first time, and that thought seemed to be the key that made it click as the water rushed over them.

The trip through the water was a lot longer than it seemed, Yuri frantically holding onto the love of his Earth family and the hands of his Shin Makoku family. The three of them broke the surface of water, gasping for breath as the water in the tub spilled over the top from the extra masses suddenly added to it. Yuri looked down at the bathroom floor covered in towels with a small laugh; his mother had thought ahead.

Greta was the first out of the tub, admiring the porcelain and tiles and then opening all of the cabinets she could find, a strange awe at the hidden compartment behind the side mirror overcoming her. Yuri watched her quietly, musing over her quick exploration that didn't leave him chance to explain much of anything.

"Yuri, is that you?" The three of them heard Jennifer calling up from downstairs. Greta went still, staring at the door.

"Don't be nervous, Greta," Wolfram said to her, pointing at the door. "She'll be thrilled when she sees you."

Yuri reassured her with a big smiled and started to step out of the tub. Perhaps he misjudged his footing since Yuri was suddenly falling. But his vision was blurring and the worried voices of Greta and Wolfram calling his name were fuzzy. He was aware that Wolfram had grabbed him before he face-planted into the ground and that he was being dragged out of the tub. "I'm sorry," he whispered to Wolfram whom was trying to sit him up against the side of the tub. _I didn't mean to sleep through our date._ Because Yuri knew that's exactly what was happening when the world went black.

-o-o-

Yuri awoke in his bed, moaning as he tried to sit up. He turned to the clock beside his bed, knowing the light outside at least meant it was day. _9:00am. _Yuri wasn't sure when they had arrived, but he mentally crossed his fingers that it wasn't Sunday yet. Out of force of habit, Yuri un-tucked himself from his blanket and dropped his feet to the ground. Someone had changed him into his pajamas, and Yuri flushed at the thought. Whether his mother or Wolfram had, neither really comforted him. He mentally crossed his fingers again that it was his father that had changed him. Yuri stood up, wobbly at first but more sure-footed as he got closer to his dresser.

It wasn't too early in the morning, but just late enough that he thought he should probably get dressed. With a sudden dread he realized he might be dressing for his date with Wolfram. He had no idea what he was supposed to wear. Yuri ridded himself of his pajama top and dug around in one of his drawers for socks and underwear. He threw some usual white crew cut socks and a pair of white briefs on his bed while he continued to scrounge around in his closest for the rest of his clothes.

Would he need something dressy or comfortable? Could he wear jeans? As cliche as it was, Yuri actually started trying things on at random with no mirror to take a good look at himself. Once he had strewn at least five outfits and a few other mix-match shirts and pants on his bed and floor, he finally noticed the folded clothes laying on his desk. Standing in front of his desk wearing only his briefs and socks, Yuri picked up a black shirt he thought would be too small for him.

He heard the door to his room suddenly opening, and he spun around, attempting to cover his nipples and waist from the intruder with the shirt as he squealed "Knock?!"

Wolfram halted halfway through opening the door and averted his eyes with a playful snort. He shut the door while staying in the hallway and knocked. "Hurry up and get dressed, you wimp."

Yuri tugged the t-shirt over his head and pulled it over his chest, noticing that it did fit but it was a bit more snug than he would have liked. He hurriedly grabbed the khaki cargo pants on the desk and put those on, tucking the shirt in the best he could and zipping up the fly. "You can come in now," he called as he weaved a dark brown cloth belt through a few belt loops in the pants.

Wolfram opened the door again and smiled. "So you're finally up."

"How long was I out?" Yuri buckled the belt together and let the extra length hang down instead of tucking it into a belt loop.

Wolfram eyed the scattered clothing with a raised eyebrow but said nothing about them. "About a day." He clarified when Yuri blinked wide. "We got here early Friday morning. You missed Mother taking Greta shopping and Greta's discovery of TV, but I'm sure she'll fill you in anyway."

Yuri sighed in relief. "I didn't sleep through it."

"Sleep through what?" Wolfram picked up a red shirt from the ground and put it on Yuri's bed.

Yuri shook his head and clipped the chain that was with the pile of folded clothes onto a belt loop and then onto his wallet which he put into his pocket. He supposed he could deal with the outfit that was left to him, but it wasn't quite his style. He knew the pants were fine, but he gave the snug black shirt a tug in hopes of stretching it out a bit. "Nothin'."

"Oh," Wolfram scooped up another shirt and placed on the growing pile. "Yes, I'm glad you didn't sleep through one of the main reasons we came here; although, it wouldn't have been a total waste of a trip since Greta got to meet her grandmother."

Yuri scratched at the back of his neck. "I was afraid Murata had jinxed me when I passed out."

"Well, the shoe bag didn't make it."

"We lost one of the bags?"

Wolfram shrugged. "We made it here just fine otherwise." The blond joined Yuri by the desk and picked up a leather-banded watch. "Mother said to wear this, too, and that there's a jacket for you downstairs when we leave."

"I don't have to wear just this shirt?"

"No, that jacket's like an over-shirt for it." Wolfram handed Yuri the watch before heading back to the door. "Breakfast is ready if you're up for it. I was sent to check on you, and the girls are eager to see you."

"I'll be down in a minute." Yuri watched Wolfram turn to leave and then turn back to him for a moment as he put on the watch. The blond looked like he wanted to say something, but smiled and left down the hallway.

Yuri swallowed, knowing that his day had just begun. It was Saturday, he was awake, he had clothes laid out for him... _This is really going to happen,_ he thought. He quickly tidied up the clothes by at least folding them all back up into a pile on his bed before he left the room and closed the door behind him.

-o-o-

End chapter 20.

OMG! I can't begin to make enough excuses for you guys, but the long-awaited date is coming up!

Also note: As I was dressing Yuri, I realized I was putting him in an outfit much too similar to another anime/manga character that I know. Embarrassing as it is, I figured to keep it; although, it does look a little different since it has a round neck opening and doesn't show his stomach.


	22. New Face

**But I Don't Like Boys? **by Shukumei

Disclaimer: KKM still doesn't belong to me. See previous chapters.

Warnings/Spoilers: No spoilers in this chapter. Look out for a minor sensual thought, but don't get your hopes up. XP

Author notes: Goodness, it's been well over a year since I posted for this story. I doubt anyone whom started reading when I first began is still here, but I welcome new faces to still give it a try. I do have a lot in store, and I'm so sorry that my updates are terribly delayed. But we're getting so close to the date and some fun, so stick around! Double bonus for your patience though: this chapter is a tad bit longer than average and there's a special surprise once you get to the end chapter notes (but read the chapter first!)

Side note that I messed up some of Yuri's housing. Last chapter I said that the bathroom was upstairs, but an episode I watched recently proved me wrong. Could have sworn Yuri and Murata had run _up_ the stairs to get to the bathroom, but oh well. For this story, it's still upstairs.

-o-o-

**Chapter 21: New Face**

Before he succumbed to the promise of breakfast, Yuri stopped to wash his face in the bathroom. It was actually just splashing some water into his face, but Yuri had hoped it might clear his head some. The water was cool as in trickled down to his chin. Yuri regarded his pale pallor with concern. Maybe he had used too much energy on the trip after all. He wondered if he'd have the strength to get everyone back home.

With a sigh, Yuri scrubbed a brush through his hair. He winced at a few tangles. With sudden dread, Yuri realized that he'd been asleep for almost a day; he hadn't taken a bath or shower since before he had left the castle. Yuri lifted an arm and tried to smell himself under it, but he didn't sense anything particularly... odorous.

Yuri washed his hands and face a bit more thoroughly and ran wet fingers through his hair. If he hadn't already gotten dressed, he would have considered skipping breakfast to take a quick shower.

Pleased with his slight return of color, Yuri finally came downstairs to greet his family. Before he could say 'good morning', Greta was onslaughting him with the tales of her adventures from the previous day. Wolfram shot him a sympathetic look, and Jennifer gave him a satisfied grin.

Yuri guided Greta back to the table, nodding and 'aha'ing at the appropriate moments. The young king wasn't sure when she'd stop. She had just told him about the box with moving pictures as they had mentioned in the carriage ride over to Shinou's temple yesterday, and he was glad to hear that his mother had tried to further explain the contraption to her.

"And then we went shopping!" Greta exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

"Make sure you finish your hotcakes," Yuri said when she had paused long enough to let him get a word in.

Greta looked down at her food as if she had forgotten about it entirely. The girl scooped a piece she had cut earlier into her mouth and tried to continue. "So many buildings-"

"Now, Greta." Wolfram frowned at her. "Talking with your mouth full isn't very becoming of a princess."

Greta swallowed. "Sorry, Wolfram."

Wolfram nodded. "Go on."

"Oh! Carriages that go without horses! Your world is so amazing, Yuri!" Greta paused to eat another bite of syrupy hotcakes. "And there were so many buildings to shop in. One for everything you could imagine."

Jennifer piped in, "We'll have to show you some of the things we got for Gre-chan."

"Yes. Greta can show you, Yuri. It was so hard to pick from all of them." Greta beamed at Jennifer.

Yuri's mother smiled back and said, "You can do a showcase just for Yuri while I start to get Wol-chan ready."

"Yay!" Greta finished her breakfast in a hurry. She pushed her chair away from the table and turned to look at Yuri. "May I be excused?"

"You may," Yuri responded.

Jennifer ushered Greta over to the sink in the kitchen before she ran down the hallway, saying she didn't want to get her new clothes all sticky. Yuri's mother returned to the table with a new plate of pancakes. "You need to eat up, too." She set the plate down before Yuri.

Yuri nodded and mostly ate his breakfast in silence. Jennifer had already finished her plate and Wolfram was almost done. As soon as Wolfram had taken his last bite, Jennifer was rushing him down the hallway. Before disappearing completely, she popped her head back into the dining area. "Could you do the dishes for me? I want to make sure Wol-chan looks his best for you."

"Sure," Yuri called as his mother vanished out of site. He muttered to himself, "Guess I don't need to get all dolled up." He grimaced. _Did I just think about getting dolled up?_

The black-haired young man picked up his and Wolfram's plates to drop them in the sink. While giving the dishes a good rinse and placing them in the dishwasher, Yuri still had no idea what his mother had planned. Clearly, she felt she needed to get Wolfram prepared for it. It didn't really make sense; although, she had laid out clothes for Yuri to wear. Judging by his own casual wear, it wasn't going to involve any place really fancy.

As if on queue, Greta appeared in the kitchen from the hallway with a 'ta-da!' as Yuri put the last of the forks in the dishwasher. He looked up at her as he closed it up. "Beautiful," he said to her with sincere honesty.

Greta giggled and twirled, belling out a bright yellow dress. The ruffled trim around her neck, puffy sleeves, and bottom of the dress was white. Since it stopped at her knees, Yuri noticed she wasn't wearing any shoes, but she had accessorized it with a small clip-in yellow bow by her left ear.

Did you or my mother pick this one out?"

"Greta did." Greta pressed her fingers together near her mouth. "Greta saw it in a... window display! Grandma Jen said it would be perfect for me."

Yuri nodded. "You both have great taste. Do you have more?"

Rather than replying, the girl ran back down the hallway. Yuri took it as a 'yes'.

Done with dishes, Yuri tried to find something else to clean up in the kitchen but found the place surprisingly spotless. He flopped onto the couch in the living room instead and turned on the TV.

"Yuri?"

Yuri heard Greta call for him in the kitchen, and he raised his voice a bit to say, "In here."

This time, Greta had on a white t-shirt with a big pink daisy on the front. She was wearing light blue jeans which were rolled up around the ankles. Yuri smiled when he saw the sparkly red slippers that she had on.

"I know the shoes don't match, but Greta likes them. I need to find something to wear with them." Greta turned one leg, so Yuri could get a better look at them. "Grandma Jen says they're like the shoes from an old movie from... Amer... ca? Something about a wizard."

Yuri nodded and patted the spot on the couch next to him. He didn't exactly remember the name of the movie, but it didn't much matter. Greta flounced onto the couch with him. Yuri turned the channel to one with a light-hearted anime. "You look nice, Greta. No one would think you're anything but a normal girl from Earth. Blending in here is a good start to learning about where I come from."

"But you don't wear clothes from Shin Makoku much," Greta said with little accusation.

"You're right. We can maybe go shopping when we get home, and you can pick out some things for me to wear. Does that sound good?" Yuri glanced down at his adopted daughter, eyes hopeful.

Greta nodded and turned her focus to the TV. "It's a date."

Yuri smiled and shook his head.

The two of them sat there, watching the anime for quite some time. Almost an hour had passed before the show had switched to one with a lady and her bouncing breasts. Greta laughed, and Yuri changed the channel before she got to see the true nature of the new show.

"I should take a shower if this is going to take much longer," Yuri mused out loud.

Greta jumped up from the couch and put her hands out in front of her. "No! You can't use the bathroom. Wolfram is getting ready in there." A light seemed to click on in her head and she snapped her fingers. "I'll go see if I can help and make it faster."

Yuri doubted the eagerness of a 10-year-old would help Wolfram's make-over go any faster. Seriously, it'd been an hour. If not a make-over, just what was his mother doing to him? Yuri nodded his approval for Greta, and she hurried off.

Yuri turned the channel back to the anime with the large-chested woman, and a boy in the show went red-faced as he was smothered with boobs clad in a tiny bikini. Yuri snorted in amusement tinged with mild disgust. He remembered believing that that would not be too appealing. The young man hadn't thought of burying his face in a woman's breasts recently, but it was something that had crossed his mind on occasion. What 15-year-old boy wouldn't have thoughts of the opposite sex? But more recently, of someone close to him that practically vibed with a need for any sort of contact?

Yuri sighed, feeling a sudden flutter of anticipation. If this _thing _with Wolfram worked out, he didn't exactly have a rounded out chest to, er, play with. _What do men do together?_ Yuri thought, his heart starting to thump harder with the images that quickly popped into his mind. His cheeks felt aflame as his mind turned kissing into a confusing jumble of hands on skin. Nipples. Ah, men and women both had nipples. If he couldn't fondle a breast, playing with a nipple might work...

Yuri hadn't realized he had closed his eyes and tilted his head back over the couch until her heard the sound of the front door open. He wasn't so deep into thought that he could miss it, but with a sudden jolt of surprise, Yuri _had _missed the fact that the dizzying feeling he had felt was blood rushing to his groin. In panic, Yuri grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it in his lap. _I've got half a stalk! _Yuri thought in dismay. He didn't have the time to ponder if his reaction was to his sensual thoughts in general or if his mind had pictured Wolfram specifically, but he thought hard about cold showers at that moment.

Yuri's older brother stepped into the room and cleared his throat.

Yuri turned his head towards Shori and gave a sheepish smiled. "Hi. What are you doing home?"

"No love for your big brother, Little Brother?" Shori asked mockingly. He rounded the couch and sat down next to Yuri. He eyed the pillow in Yuri's lap with a questioning gaze only once. "I see how it is. I'm going to take you on your big date, and I don't even get a thank you."

Yuri lifted his feet onto the couch, drawing his knees and pillow close to him. "Nice to see you, Shori." Yuri stared at the TV. "You'll be our chaperon?"

Shori shook his head. "Just a chauffeur. Mom's given me explicit instructions to let you two be alone."

Yuri's cheeks flushed with warmth anew. "So you know where we're going?"

"Yeah."

When Shori didn't continue, Yuri turned off the TV with the remove he had laying on his other side. He turned to face Shori, discarding the pillow. "Where are you going to take us?"

"The amusement park," Shori said plainly, looking at Yuri again now that the bouncing breasts were gone.

"The amusement park?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Shori asked. "You sound disappointed."

Yuri shrugged, looking away. "That's a perfect place for couples, yeah. But I'm not sure it's the best choice for Wolfram. With his motion sickness, we wouldn't really be able to go on many rides."

Shori placed his hand around his chin and put one leg over the other. "That does seem rather disappointing, but at least you two will be together. Once you're done there, you can maybe take a walk on the pier."

"That sounds nice."

Shori stood up and looked down at his younger brother. "Did you give it to him yet?"

"Did I give wha-" Yuri suddenly stood as well. "Oh yeah. No, I haven't. Where is it?"

"It should still be in your desk drawer. Come." Shori motioned with one hand, and Yuri followed behind him.

And it was. Yuri picked up the small velvet-covered box and put it on the desk. "When should I give it to him?"

"Afterward, I think." Shori nodded. "So that it's the climax of the date."

Yuri returned the nod and closed the drawer Wolfram's gift had been hiding in. "I won't forget it if it's in plain site."

"Ah, there you are!" Greta creaked open the door to Yuri's room. "Go down to the living room, and we'll bring him out."

Yuri's heart leaped into his throat. The moment was drawing closer. His heart had calmed a bit as he descended the stairs with Greta and Shori, but he was swallowed hard when Greta placed him to stand facing a wall with his eyes closed. He heard his mother and Greta stifle a few giggles and then sounds of them shushing someone.

A hesitant hand touched Yuri's shoulder. "Ah, Yuri?" Wolfram's voice.

Finally, Yuri could see what all the fuss was about.; he opened his eyes and turned to face his fiance. "It's about time, Wol-" And he promptly slammed his back against the wall, hands splayed. He stared. Yuri knew it was rude to stare, but he stared at Wolfram, awestruck.

Awkward silence filled the space between them when Wolfram tucked blond locks behind his ears. He blushed, and Yuri had only one word that appeared before him. _Cute._ Yuri continued to stare at Wolfram, hoping his mouth was closed, but he hadn't quite expected _this. _The young king had know Wolfram to be a beautiful being, and he usually made a convincing girl, but his mother had succeeding in bringing out these qualities in a perfect balance.

Wolfram wore a bright blue baggy shirt. It stretched out at his waist so that the bottom of the shirt sagged around his middle and his sleeves stopped just above his elbows. Yuri could see a white tank top under the blue shirt since it had a very wide neck opening; he was certain that Wolfram would end up bearing a shoulder at least once during the day with how wide it did open – ah, Wolfram's movement just then had revealed a creamy shoulder. He had on black capris that hugged his figure, but the shirt sagged low enough in the front to cover any particularly manly figures that might also be snug - Yuri couldn't tell if it was perhaps more loose around his waist, but with Wolfram's exposed lower legs, the black-haired boy could see the blond's toned calf muscles. A few long necklace dangled around Wolfram's neck, falling in the middle of his chest. One of them had a small yellow flower at the end and the other had a green tear-drop-shaped bead. And there were big blue bracelets matching his shirt that Yuri saw with Wolfram hiding his hands behind his back.

But beyond that, Yuri was impressed with Wolfram's face. He was used to gaudy makeups that Yozak would use to hide his gender, but Wolfram had on very little. Lips lightly glossed with pink, a brush of rouge, and slight darkening around his lashes was all he could see, and Yuri couldn't believe how stunning it looked. To add the most feminine touch of all was probably Wolfram's hair. It was still Wolfram's hair, slight wave and short around his face, but he had some matching blond extensions under it that made his hair appear longer. It wasn't super curly like Wolfram's mother's, and it only came down to his shoulders.

"Well, say something, Yu-chan," Jennifer said when she could no longer bear the silence.

Yuri didn't know what to say. Wolfram would probably hate being called cute, and if it said the wrong thing, he might be insulting his mother's work. Yuri did the next best thing he could think of and finally broke into a wide smile.

Jennifer clapped and came forward from sitting on the couch; Greta hovered around Wolfram with her. "I'm glad you like it, Yu-chan. Now you can go all those couple-y things you might want to do with everyone watching."

Yuri blushed with Wolfram. If a bit stylized, Wolfram did look the part of a human girl, even with a flat chest. His mother wouldn't have brought Wolfram out if she hadn't yet put in fake breasts, so Yuri could see that this was the completed look. The shirt seemed to hide it well, too. He knew people would see them together as a boy and a girl without question, wondering how he had scored someone so far out of his league.

"Oh, did Ken-kun give you a package to give to me?" Jennifer asked Yuri as she mildly fussed over a wave of Wolfram's hair.

Yuri felt his back pocket instinctively. "Ah, it was in my pants from yesterday. I don't know where-"

Shori lifted his hand to his shoulder – Yuri had almost forgotten he was there. "I put it on your desk. Would have brought it down with us if I knew you'd need it."

"Go get it for me, Sho-chan?" Jennifer smiled to her eldest son.

Shori nodded and left.

"What is it, Mother?" Yuri asked, still eying Wolfram over.

"The final touch."

"The final touch? What more do you need? Wolfram looks great, Mother." A thought occurred to Yuri, and he squashed it down. _It can't be fake breasts, what I felt was more like a small button..._

Wolfram turned to Jennifer and placed his hands on his chest. "I... still need, ah, _these_, right?"

Jennifer shook her head. "Nope. No cleavage for you. You make the most adorable flat-chested girl ever. A carpenter's dream."

Yuri thought Wolfram look a bit deflated by the compliment that most girls would be insulted by. Wolfram may look the part, but he had to act the part, too. Yuri wondered in Wolfram would fare well.

-o-o-

End of chapter 21.

Note on breakfast - I know that they would have had eggs and Japanese food, but I didn't want to go really research and remember the names of foods. So hotcakes it is.

Not sure if the Wizard of Oz is well-known in Japan or not, but who could resist putting a cute little girl in Dorothy slippers? XD

In episodes that I watched earlier, besides noticing the bathroom placement, I remembered that Greta often talked in the third person. I'm sorry if her sudden change in speech confused anyone.

And outfit! Go check out my profile. Yay! I drew Wolfram in his disguise long before I ever got to this part, so if you want to see it, please go look.


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